


Burning Bright Eyes

by Shadowgeist



Series: Serpents' Warriors [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acxa & Keith (Voltron) are Siblings, Because I'm Salty About Season 6, Emperor Lotor (Voltron), F/M, Good Lotor, Post-Episode: s05e06 White Lion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 14:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 57,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowgeist/pseuds/Shadowgeist
Summary: "They hate Lotor, they hate Ezor, they hate Acxa, Zethrid, and Narti. But most of all, as part of my blood is part of their race, they hate me."The antimatter planet Mierome is dark enough with the fact that it stands near a white dwarf star and makes its own antimatter energy to sustain its inhabitants. But its said inhabitants have a very nasty secret within their ranks. A secret that a certain newly-crowned Galra emperor will have to reveal to his allies in Team Voltron. A secret that will show them all the truth of what hybrid aliens of any species have to face, in the cold, serpent-eyed half-Galra Ayiko.





	1. Prologue

_Three deca-phoebs ago..._

        Lotor's cruiser hovered beside a palace of silver metal on a monotone landscape. The capitol city was dark and silent with the faint haze of smoke, dotted by the lights of Mieran eyes and colored cloaks. The Trueblood and Royalsoul cults had caused an uproar over a simple task of retrieving records on the military of the planet Mierome, simply because the recipients of the records were a minuscule squad of Galra hybrids. The prince disapproved of the planet's society and its purpose for the empire, but it could not be helped.

         _Not yet._

        "Acxa," Lotor addressed the blue-skinned general from the throne of his ship. "Have you completed translating the reports of the military on Mierome?"

        "Yes, I have, sir," the woman nodded, sending the info chart to the main screen. "However, there is one member of the guard that you might be interested in: a half-Galra commander named Ayiko." She pointed out the picture of the mentioned general, who did seem noticeably different compared to the pureblood Miero on the rest of the chart. Her skin held a Galra-like violet tinge, and her ears were pointed like those of a Galra. "The information about her is heavily biased towards blood-purity, so it's fair to assume her way of becoming such a high rank and maintaining it couldn't have been easy."

        "She definitely looks stronger than the rest of those puny Miero we got through," Zethrid commented. "Wonder if she fights good, too."

        "I wouldn't be surprised, Zethrid," Lotor mused, looking at the mugshot with newfound interest. "I wonder why we didn't fight her when we attacked."

        Ezor soon came running into the ship, skidding along the floor to her station. "Yikes! Those guards obviously hate hybrids for some reason, 'cause I just tried to save a weird-looking Miero from a group of generals, and those creeps had their tendril things ready to tear me to shreds! I heard one of them say they were heading to some huge nearby crater and -- wow, that's the same one I saw, without the weird helmet thingy keeping her tendril things from coming out."

        Lotor's eyes widened. "Hate hybrids... blood-purity... a half-Galra commander... a crater..." he mumbled, going over what the scenario could mean. Only one real possibility stuck out, and it wasn't a good one.

        Acxa asked, "Sir, do you believe those generals are planning on inflicting harm on this commander?"

        Lotor nodded slowly. "Your assumptions are identical to mine, Acxa. Prepare my personal fighter with the coordinates to the crater Ezor was speaking of. Narti, prepare a healing pod in the infirmary; something tells me this Ayiko will be harmed by her superiors, if she hasn't been already."

        The blind general nodded and ran off to do as she was told. Acxa went to the controls, adding the location to the nearest, closest crater on Mierome to the log of the prince's ship. Lotor walked briskly to the shipping dock with his helmet on, leaping into his fighter and taking off into the dark atmosphere.

        _Mierome,_ Lotor's thoughts wandered as he flew through the sky.  _A planet of haunting beauty that masks petrifying power and crippling hatred. Only taken by the Empire because of the danger of its phantasmal population, and the planet's antimatter energy for the witch's experiments. The chauvinistic groups that race across the soil are far stronger than their fragile monarchy. Like a rock amassed with ghostly wild animals no one could dare tame. And yet, there is now one who perhaps can tame the beastly cults, so long as she's taken from their jaws first. Let us hope we can carry her into our world, away from this realm of torment, before her blood-purist race destroys her for her own strength._

        When Lotor found the location he was given, he saw three Miero generals standing a ways away from a large crater full of sharp, jagged rocks. Another Miero who looked like a lowly commander was bound and standing at the edge, wearing only what appeared to be a navy-blue undersuit normally worn under the usual slim, dark gray scale armor. The commander's head was covered by a brown dark-visor helmet with a sort of bit in the Miero's mouth, the helmet holding her tendrils inside in what must've been a very uncomfortable fashion. She clearly couldn't see, hear, move, speak, or even fight back, and was oblivious to the fact that a general behind her was aiming a blaster toward her back.

         _Those monsters._

        Lotor swerved down toward the scene as the general promptly shot the commander in the back, sending her tumbling helplessly into the crater. The generals turned and ran at their usual comparatively breakneck speed from the scene upon seeing the Galra ship. Lotor wanted to shoot them all down, but there were two things preventing him from doing so: one, they would already be long gone after he readied the blaster; and two, the commander needed immediate help.

        Grudgingly, Lotor landed his ship not far from where the now-unconscious commander lay. The ash gray of Miero blood leaked through her wounds and stained the rocks, especially around her back. He took off the obvious prisoner helmet and tossed it aside, freeing her tendrils and showing it indeed was the commander named Ayiko. While he was at it, he used his sword to cut away the ropes binding her arms and legs. Careful of her various wounds, Lotor picked up the injured commander, placing her in the fighter before jumping back in. He flew back slower than getting there, so as not to cause further harm to the passenger, to his main ship.

        Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid were waiting for their superior as he came back into the shipping dock, coming out with the Miero hybrid in his arms. Acxa looked over the injured hybrid girl in worry; she didn't even look fully-grown yet.

        "Her injuries are varied in severity, sir," she commented. "Though I believe the worst is the wound in her back."

        Lotor nodded in understanding. "Zethrid, bring our guest to the infirmary," Lotor ordered as he handed Ayiko to the larger hybrid. "And tell Narti that she will keep watch over her until she is fully recovered. Ezor, go fetch her armor from the Miero palace. I believe that her quarters there will be easy to identify, considering how the Miero appear to treat hybrids like us."

        "Yes sir," Zethrid nodded as she went off.

        "Look for a hybrid's room in a blood-purist castle. Probably labeled with a bunch of 'half-breed' messages -- easy-peasy!" Ezor grinned as she took off for the palace.

* * *

         It was already over a day since they brought in the Miero hybrid. Seated on his throne, Lotor wondered when Narti would send Kova to tell him Ayiko was fully recovered. Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid shared a similar sense of worry. Hybrids of any species had to stick together, especially Galra hybrids; everyone in Lotor's crew knew that. And knowing the pain that a fellow half-Galra had to go through -- likely her entire life -- was an empathy that they all could feel.

        When a frightened, meowing Kova dashed into the bridge, Lotor and the other generals spun to the feline. A loud crash coming from the infirmary only sent the four of them into more worry and fear as they all got up and followed the cat, running back to the infirmary. The others went ahead of Lotor, and soon after they entered the infirmary, he heard them yelping in surprise and fear.

        When the Galra prince looked in, he was met with a frightening sight.

        Ayiko was awake and fully recovered physically, but clearly not mentally. Her face was neutral, but her glowing, pale cornflower blue eyes danced with fear. All of Lotor's generals, Narti included, were each pinned against the opposite wall by a flurry of Ayiko's midnight blue tendrils. Not even Zethrid was able to escape, and that was alarming enough for the superior.

        Lotor's blood nearly ran cold as those glowing, frightened eyes turned to him. Her remaining tendrils were lifted, ready to pin him as well -- likely to the floor. Lotor instinctively pulled out his sword as some tendrils shot towards him, getting tangled around the blade. The Galra prince narrowly dodged other tendrils until he was close enough to grab Ayiko's fingerless hand.

        The hybrid stopped cold, muscles going slack and tendrils retracting, freeing the generals. Lotor stared silently into the hybrid's bright, gleaming eyes as the dilated pupils retracted to a calmer appearance. For a few dobashes, all was still.

        "You don't need to be afraid of us," he murmured to the Miero hybrid, taking a step closer. "We're all half-Galra, just like you. You can come out; no harm will come to you."

        Ayiko looked down at them with skeptical eyes, her gaze flitting from Lotor to each of his generals. Seeing no hint of a weapon on any of them, she took a shuddering breath before she cautiously stepped out of the healing pod, keeping completely silent. Ezor grinned and gladly hugged the new hybrid in welcoming, earning a smile from the others, Lotor especially. He knew that it wouldn't be at all easy to gain the trust of this new addition to the group, but he also knew that it would be well worth it once they did.


	2. One

        “Alright, Paladins,” Allura rallied everyone to the bridge, snapping Lotor out of a daze. “We are en route to planet Mierome, to where we heard a distress signal of an attack.”

        Lotor looked up from where he was sitting on the steps off to the side.  _Planet Mierome,_  he thought, turning to stand up. _It feels like it's been so long since I've last seen that place... and that person. I suppose my mind had wandered to that fateful day..._

        “The Miero are a difficult people to get through to,” Lotor warned, standing beside the princess. “I should know; I was put in charge of their planet for a deca-phoeb. The only bridge of light in this situation is a high-ranking officer being a Galra hybrid, like myself and your little friend. Her name is Ayiko; I believe the signal came from her.”

        “I’ve been reading up on them,” Pidge volunteered, shifting her glasses. “Despite living by a white dwarf star, their entire planet can generate its own energy since it’s mainly antimatter, and the inhabitants are also commonly called ‘the Spectral Race.’ That’s all I know, unfortunately.”

        “Very impressive,” Lotor commended the Green Paladin. “The Miero are given the moniker on account of the lack of light and how it has affected their general appearance. Ayiko is also a dear friend, both to myself and my former generals. In our first meeting," he fought to keep his voice even, "it seemed as if we were the only ones who didn’t wish her harm. She holds such a position solely because she is bigger and stronger than pureblood Miero, due to her Galra blood. Although the cultists on the planet couldn't care less for a hybrid being at a respectful position.”

        “I can understand where that’s coming from,” Coran chimed in. “Hybrids of any kind are normally looked down upon by purebloods of their parents’ races. I’m sure you and your generals had a fair share of it, from the Galra especially.”

        Lotor nodded once in confirmation before the screen started going off, having picked up a strange noise coming from a specific location on the planet the Castle of Lions was approaching. Allura turned on the speaker, causing all of them to hear several snapping noises, many angry voices calling out in a foreign language, and a lone, muffled female voice whimpering and crying in pain. Hunk looked terrified and hid behind Pidge, and the others’ expressions all looked to be a mix of worried and scared. Surprisingly, out of all of them, Lotor appeared to be the most upset.

        _That voice..._ “That’s Ayiko,” he breathed when the audio was silenced. “They must be lashing her, judging by those noises; I wouldn't be surprised if there's also a prisoner's helm in the equation. She must normally be out of commision for over a movement afterward without a healing pod. It’s similar to the first time we met, when some blood-purist superiors pushed her into a crater of sharp rocks via a shot to the back. This is the source of the distress signal: her armor automatically send it when she's in poor condition.”

        Allura was horrified at the Galran’s words, even moreso than the Paladins. “I… I never imagined that anyone would have to endure such harassment from their own kind. If this happens as often as you believe, we must rescue this friend of yours. Pidge, ready the Green Lion. You’ll use your Lion’s cloaking ability in this mission. Lotor, since you know this Ayiko better than all of us, you will have to accompany her with your own ship to rescue your friend.”

        The emperor smiled. “I am glad you understand how important this is to me,” Lotor thanked the Altean woman as Pidge went to her Lion.

        Allura returned the smile. “Consider it repaying for us capturing you those few times. We still owe you one even after Oriande.”

        Lotor smirked in an almost playful manner before going to his own ship. _Please be alright, Ayiko. We're coming to help you._

* * *

_“Okay, we got one cloaked Lion and Galra Sincline ship heading down a black atmosphere,”_ Pidge reported once they were going toward the planet. _“I’m looking at a huge crowd gathered in front of some sort of platform. There’s one of them hurting another who’s chained to the platform at the ankles, and to a pole by the wrists. They even went so far as to use what looks like canvas to cover her hands and feet.”_

 _“Oh dear. Must be some sort of torture ceremony,”_ Coran assumed.

 _“But I don’t see any sort of whip in the guy’s hand,”_ Pidge added. _“Just a small knife to lightly wound the other one. Wait, he seems to be whipping her with… some sort of tentacle-like projections coming from the head and neck. Yikes. If they all have them, it looks like the prisoner even has some sort of helmet keeping hers from interfering.”_

        “That’s exactly how the Miero cult, Trueblood, punishes hybrids like Ayiko,” Lotor notified. “And I know that she’s the one on the platform. The prisoner helmet is often used for events such as this. Those projections are called tendrils, and can be used in several different ways, but in most violent situations, they are used as weapons. Trueblood is more brutal towards hybrids than any other blood-purist Miero cult.”

        The Altean princess' face appeared on the sidescreen. _“Sounds even more horrible than I imagined,”_ mused Allura. _“We’ll have to be quick to get her out of there. If your visual screens are saying anything, it’s that Ayiko can’t hold out against this punishment for much longer without collapsing. Pidge, first chance you have, get between Ayiko and her assailants. Then, Lotor can slip in to rescue her and you can both come back to the castle.”_

        Pidge nodded. _“One invisible feline wall, coming right up.”_ Lotor’s sensors detected the Green Lion heading down to the platform, straight in between the cult and their victim. The man on the platform didn’t seem to realize what was happening. He lashed his tendrils at the "wall" with angry shouts. Others in the crowd attempted to do the same, but the "wall" wouldn’t move no matter how hard it was hit. Lotor smirked in satisfaction, as Pidge left enough room for him to slip inside as he descended to the platform.

        Once at the platform, Lotor leapt out from his fighter in front of the barely-conscious Miero hybrid. He summoned his sword and axed the heavy, binding cuffs; the helmet would be taken care of in the castle. There was no glass over the lower half of her face, showing the spiked bit in Ayiko’s mouth. He was careful with scooping her up and placing her in the small ship before he and Pidge took off back to the sky, away from the screaming mob below.

        “Lo… tor…?” Ayiko asked in a rasping voice through the bit. “What…?”

        His heart nearly broke at hearing the pain she was in and how weak she was. “You needn’t worry, Ayiko,” Lotor murmured as his fighter headed into the castleship. “You’re safe with us. We’ll take care of you.” He glanced back only to find she had passed out.

        The Paladins rushed to the docking station as the fighter landed and opened the hatch. Lotor went back and undid the clasp on the bit, removing the helmet and letting her restrained tendrils fall down her back. He gently carried her out to the others. He knew to be careful of her injuries and her hands -- metal fingerless wedges that could go from blunt and flexible to stiff and sharp in a fight, courtesy of the Druids -- so they wouldn’t become worse after the wrists were rubbed raw under the tight cuffs.

        “So this is your friend, big guy?” Lance asked when he saw Ayiko’s unconscious face. Her skin was a silvery lavender, and her Galra ears faded to white at the tip; her arms and legs seemed to follow the same gradient. Aside from the lash wounds and sizable, bleeding cut on her cheek, -- that would definitely leave a scar -- her gray Miero blood dripped from the corners of her mouth, where the bit cut into the tender flesh. “She definitely looks like a gh--”

        “Lance,” Shiro warned. “Anyway, it looks like we should bring her into a healing pod. We’ll talk once we get her safely into it. You still have a lot to explain to us about Ayiko, particularly why she looks so familiar.”

        Lotor looked down at Ayiko, sighing in relent. “I may not know why she looks familiar to you, but I will tell you whatever else I know about the Miero."

* * *

        Lotor looked up at the cryogenic replenisher holding the Miero-Galra hybrid. She was only in a white healing suit, thanks to Allura and Pidge. The familiar navy undersuit she normally had under her armor, for which the tattered fabric was only halfway down her pencil-thin arms and legs, was taken to be mended. He was hoping to be able to see her pale blue eyes open and glow again after being apart for so long. _She may have even begun to believe I’d never come back._

        “You genuinely care about her, don’t you, Lotor.” The Galra turned around to see Allura and Shiro, Allura being the one to speak. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fully healed after a night or so in the healing pod.”

        “I do know that about these healing chambers,” Lotor mused. “It’s just… it takes me back to the first day I met her. Or should I say, the day I and my generals rescued her from some horrible generals. We kept her in a pod in the infirmary on my ship, with Narti and Kova keeping watch. However, when she did awaken -- and Kova went to fetch me and the others -- we found that the first thing Ayiko did was attack; Narti was already pinned to the wall with her tendrils. Before I knew it, all of them were soon pinned by locks of tendrils; not even Zethrid could escape. She was untrusting, cold, and didn’t dare say a word until all of us had truly gained her trust.

        “Knowing her, there is a very high probability that she will do so again, particularly if I’m not around. I suppose you can say I’m… unnerved about what she may do upon waking up to yet another group of strangers. Especially considering the nature of the Red Lion’s Paladin.”

        Shiro smiled in understanding, to Lotor’s surprise. “I see what you mean there. We’ll do our best to make sure Lance doesn’t get too close too fast. Coran, too, just in case. Don’t get me wrong, they mean well, but we don’t want anyone pinned to the opposite side of the room any more than you. Besides, I’m sure you’re also worried about how the others would react about how easily she can send her tendrils flying.”

        Allura nodded in agreement before looking back at Lotor. “It’s getting late. We should turn in for the night. You can stay up a little longer if you’d like, but remember that you need your rest as well.”

        Lotor nodded as the two left before looking back up at Ayiko. She looked so weak, so fragile; so, _so_  much like when he last saw her like this. Sure, the healing pod was noticeably helping her many injuries, but Lotor only thought it was taking too long. Sitting down on the steps before the chamber, Lotor laid his head on his arm, letting himself have time to rest as a single tear slid from his closing eye. The lights all over the castleship grew dim, with the only light in the area being Ayiko’s healing pod.

* * *

        A few vargas later, the sleep pod containing the Miero began to open. She held herself up on the sides of the sleep pod as she opened her glowing, pale cornflower blue eyes. She looked down to see Lotor asleep on the stairs of the chamber. She silently took a step out on her three-toed feet, being careful not to disturb her old friend.

        Noticing her friend’s position on the hard steps, Ayiko carefully helped him onto the smoother ramps of the chamber. She noticed an open storage room in the corridor, walking over to it. After grabbing a blanket and pillow with some of her tendrils and closing the room, she went back to Lotor. She slipped the pillow under his head, covering him with the blanket. After he shifted slightly in the new position without waking up, Ayiko left the Sleep Chamber.

        Ayiko wandered through the corridor to find the Paladins’ quarters. The doors’ edges seemed to be color-coded, to some extent, and all except the one with red was closed and locked. The one with green edges echoed with the typing of a computer. The yellow one echoed with the sound of snoring.

        Curious, Ayiko approached the red-edged doorway, looking inside. The room looked pretty much vacant, like there was someone here before, but they had to leave. She stepped inside to look a little closer, but didn’t see any other details. Shrugging it off, she left the room to explore further.

        Ayiko soon found herself at the bridge of the ship. Some mice were asleep on the banister, with a red-eyed blue mouse standing guard, though it didn’t seem to mind Ayiko’s presence. The Miero hybrid nodded to it in acknowledgement before going to where the camera logs were. As she was about to type away with her tendrils and look through the files…

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

        Ayiko's tendrils shot to the opening doors in panic when the alarm went off. Not realizing the orange-haired man behind her getting tossed back by the tendrils, she took off from the room, heading down one of the corridors.

        “Quiznak! Halt, you intruder!” the man called after her as she rushed off. But she didn’t dare stop; she only went faster. The voices of confusion only drove her to go as fast as she possibly could without tripping, until she found herself in a room far ahead of everyone else.

        Once she realized the distance between herself and the Paladins, Ayiko stopped to catch her breath and assess her surroundings. The alarm had stopped beeping like a castle-wide alarm clock, and the castleship's lights had become dim again. She was on a staircase in a giant ballroom of sorts. But she soon heard the voices getting closer again. Using her tendrils, she grabbed the ceiling to swing down and silently hunker down under the staircase. Once she was situated in her hiding place, she hid her glowing eyes with her retracting tendrils.

        “Boy, was that girl fast,” a younger male voice heaved as the door opened and her pursuers went into the ballroom. “Where’d she even go? I lost track at the third turn.”

        “I think I saw her head in here,” a deeper voice answered. “But she must’ve gone further ahead. First thing I saw was of her running down the corridor.”

        “Well, I found that Miero have digitigrade legs,” a much higher-pitched voice panted. “You know, like a cat or dog’s hind legs, so that must’ve been a factor to her speed and agility.”

        “You think she set off the alarm simply by entering the bridge?” a female voice asked skeptically.

        “Doubtful,” replied Lotor’s voice. “Your sleep-deprived adviser didn’t get a chance to see Ayiko’s face, Allura. He must’ve set it off thinking she was an intruder.”

        “That would make a fair amount of sense,” the woman named Allura agreed. “Let’s keep looking before she hurts herself. I’ll make sure to have a word with Coran in the morning once your friend is safe and accounted for.”

        “Wait up, you guys,” a last male voice groaned as the others went down a different corridor.

        However, Ayiko didn’t make out Lotor's step leaving with them. On the contrary, she heard the clicking of his boots on the tiled floor slowly go further down the staircase. She watched his feet head to the side of the base of the stairs, kneeling down to look under them. His eyes widened at seeing the hybrid hunched down in her hiding place. His eyes were fixed on the familiar glowing blue eyes as he murmured, “Ayiko?"


	3. Two

        Ayiko quietly crawled out from her hiding place to where Lotor was waiting, holding his hand out for her. The golden sclerae of his eyes glinted with worry as she crawled up to him. After placing her mechanical hand in his, the hybrid stood up by the Galra emperor. “How did you know I was here?” she whispered.

        “Because I know you, Ayiko,” he replied. “You always hide in the darkest places where no one else would bother looking.” He wrapped his free arm around her in an embrace. “You had me worried… While you were whipped by Trueblood. When you were unconscious in my grasp and in the healing pod. And when you were gone by the time the alarm went off. Don’t try to scare me like that.”

        Ayiko sighed as she leaned against Lotor’s shoulder, looking up at him. “I wasn’t trying to. The alarm and the many strangers scared _me_. When I found myself in your fighter, I expected you were taking me to your ship. Where are Ezor and the others?”

        Lotor hummed softly. “I can understand where that must be coming from. You must be rather unnerved at being in a different ship than you first thought you’d end up in. But, unfortunately, Ezor and the others… they left me for the witch, even after what she did to Narti and Kova. You were right not to trust Narti when you were with us; the witch was using her all along.”

        “Haggar?” Ayiko recalled, pulling back. “That’s horrible. I thought they would never do that. And if Narti… she couldn’t possibly have deserved that.”

        “We can talk more of it another time,” Lotor told her softly. “But now, the strangers who were chasing you are the Paladins of Voltron; my newest allies. We can call them off back at the bridge.”

        Ayiko nodded before they walked back to the bridge, hand in hand. Once they were there, they saw that the area was once again empty. Lotor led her to the communication area, bringing out the mic for the comms.

        “Attention, everyone,” Lotor spoke. “Ayiko has been found safe and fully recovered. She’s with me at the bridge.”

 _“That’s wonderful news that you found her, Lotor,”_ Allura’s voice replied. _“But out of curiosity, where was she?”_

        “Hiding under the ballroom stairs,” the Galra answered. “Ayiko prefers hiding in places that would likely be normally left unchecked when in an unfamiliar place.”

 _“Makes sense,”_ mused the high-pitched voice from before. _“Guess that would make her a master at hide-and-seek.”_

        Ayiko’s eyes widened before she shrunk back. “Oh no,” she whispered, “that couldn’t be me; Ezor’s always been the better hider.”

        “I suggest you leave that for them to decide,” Lotor whispered off-mic.

 _“Anyway, we’re heading back to bed,”_ the tired-sounding male from before yawned. _“It’s way too late for anyone to be awake, especially Coran, and it’ll be better for us to meet your friend in the morning.”_

 _“Hunk’s got the right idea,”_ the deep voice agreed. _“Lotor, we’ll see you and Ayiko in the morning. We’ll try our best to make sure Coran and Lance don’t cause trouble.”_

        “We appreciate that, Black Paladin,” Lotor thanked the man before signing off, taking Ayiko’s hand. “Come, there’s a guest room next to my own you can take for the time being. Allura made sure to put your armor in there.”

* * *

        The next morning, when everyone was fully rested after last night, Ayiko was ready to meet the Paladins. She wore her familiar faded black armor, which she obtained from being in Lotor’s crew, with a glowing chip on each wrist for the holographic screens. She tweaked the colors to make the orange areas cyan to distinguish it from the others like Ezor’s, who held a similar body design besides the arms -- which were fully closed -- and feet -- which were made especially for a digitigrade like herself.

        Ayiko sighed. She missed the company of the other generals from her time in Lotor’s group; even giant, reckless Zethrid. She missed sparring with all of them, honing their skills against each other. Ayiko normally did it to practice using her tendrils in battle so as not to get them in a painful, useless tangle. Ezor normally had to help her whenever that happened.

        “I see you still wear that armor,” Lotor mused, bringing Ayiko out of her thoughts. “I'm sure you still have the helmet as well. Now then, shall we go and meet the others?” he asked, holding his arm out for the female hybrid.

        Ayiko smiled and put her arm through his, nodding at him before they walked to the dining room.

        Allura, Shiro, and the others waited in the dining room for the hybrid pair to arrive. The mice were sitting on Allura’s shoulders, waiting for the food to be passed around. Coran was huddled in the kitchen, ashamed for causing a ruckus over a simple guest that happens to be Lotor’s only friend among the Miero race.

        When Lotor came in through the door, everyone looked up at him. He calmly stepped aside for the tall, lanky Miero hybrid to step into view. Her midnight-blue tendrils wafted harmlessly just at her waist, and her fringe sported a fork extending from the middle of her forehead down to her cheeks.

        Now getting a good look at Ayiko, Allura could see why Lotor suggested to be cautious about her. Her luminous, pale blue slits studied the group with clear skepticism in anxious silence. Lotor didn’t look worried as Allura gave her a welcoming smile.

        “Hey there,” Lance greeted as he walked towards the hybrid, taking her hand. “You definitely look like you’re an outta-this-world kinda -- OW!” He jumped back when one of her tendrils slapped his wrist.

        “Saw that one coming a mile away,” Pidge sighed as she dragged Lance back to his seat.

        “Thank you for that, Pidge,” Allura nodded to the Green Paladin. “It’s so nice to truly meet you, Ayiko. I dearly apologize for Coran setting off the alarm last night; he didn’t get to see you, and likely didn’t get enough sleep, either. We’ll make it up to you, and make sure you feel safer than you ever did on Mierome.”

        "Looks like the Druids got a hold of you, too," Shiro commented with a half-smile as he approached. "The one who got too close is Lance, the one who pulled him back is Pidge, Hunk is in the kitchen, and the one who set the alarm last night is Coran. I'm Shiro, the leader of Team Voltron."

        Ayiko gave a small smile in return as she was led to the table to sit between the royals, almost protectively. Hunk was coming out with cups of “food goo” when Coran rushed in with an all-too-familiar dish: the same poor excuse for a lunch he tried giving the Paladins a long while ago.

        “Ah, you must be Ayiko!” he greeted with a sickly sweet smile. “So sorry about last night. I’ll make it up to you with this!” Lotor and Allura looked at it in disgust, the Paladins covered their mouths and noses, but all of them were soon choking on the stench. Ayiko seemed to gag and whispered something to Lotor.

        “I agree,” he coughed. “That even looks like something poisonous to Miero, and many other species.”

        “Coran, I thought we agreed you wouldn’t pull that up again,” Hunk scolded as he covered the dish and took it and Coran back to the kitchen. “If you like it, eat it yourself somewhere no one else can smell it. I’m the king of the kitchen, pal; if that ain’t edible for one, it probably isn’t for the rest.”

        “Glad you helped us out on that, Hunk,” Shiro thanked the Yellow Paladin upon his return. “Now we know why he didn’t want to talk about it when you started working in the kitchen.”

        “The food-master saves the day again,” Lance grinned as the cups and straws were passed around.

        “Thought I’d try something new with the food goo today,” Hunk explained when Allura and Lotor looked confused at the cups. “I made it have more of a smoothie texture and gave it some flavor with juice of that fruit from Olkarion. Completely safe, and packed with actual nutrients. Pidge and I gave it a scan to check for ourselves; way better than a bunch of Coran’s suggestions.”

        The Paladins grinned at each other and began sipping the food. When the two royal aliens were still skeptical about the meal, Ayiko decided to chance it and took a sip. She nodded at the two, signifying that it was actually tasty. Lotor and Allura did the same, smiling at Ayiko when she proved correct before they all gladly sipped at the new food smoothies.

* * *

        After breakfast, the Paladins went off to their normal places. Pidge went to the Lions’ hangar, Hunk went to the kitchen, and Shiro headed to the training deck. Lance tried getting close to Ayiko again, but ended up with another tendril snapped on his wrist, so he went off with Shiro. Coran sullenly came back with his empty dish, even flinching when Ayiko sent a warning glare after he got too close. (To be fair, Ayiko’s glowing serpentine eyes are far more intimidating than most others, so no one could really blame him for it.)

        Allura and Lotor brought the new arrival to the bridge, allowing one of the mice -- Plachu -- to ride on Ayiko’s shoulder. The red-eyed blue mouse seemed to have a fairly similar disposition to the Miero hybrid, and the two remembered each other right away.

        “So, Ayiko, exactly what were you doing here last night?” Allura asked. “You can show us if you prefer.”

        Ayiko walked up to the dashboard, using her tendrils to type at the board and bring up the file of “vlogs” that she found the night before. “I was curious about one of the empty rooms in the castle as I was exploring,” she said quietly. “When I had discovered these files, I was about to look further into them when the one called Coran set off the alarm. My only instinct was to flee, but my tendrils may have reacted on their own before I did; they tend to do that.”

        Allura looked at the screen, smiling in nostalgia. “I remember recording those videos. It wasn’t long before Keith left for the Blade of Marmora.”

        “The Blade of Marmora?” Lotor echoed. “I’ve been planning to grant them amnesty for a while now, and to allow them into my ranks. Not many other Galra are against it, but I wager that's most likely because their families are with them.”

        “That’s wonderful, Lotor,” Allura smiled at the Galra male before turning back to Ayiko. “There won’t be any harm in watching the videos, Ayiko; go on.”

        Ayiko nodded before selecting the videos, starting with Allura’s. The trio watched every video, with Keith’s being the last. The three shared a good laugh at most of the videos, especially Lance’s given how he assumed Allura was crushing on him, and the footage of her making him kiss the largest mouse, Platt. Coran’s video was also fairly humorous since it showed him trying to approach the Red Lion only for it to growl at him and take off. Lotor and Ayiko watched Keith’s video carefully, since Keith wasn’t around to meet in person.

        “That was definitely a Marmora blade in his hand,” Lotor commented once Keith’s video ended. “And from the wording of the last bit, I'd say he acquired it from his mother being Galra. However, Ayiko and I can understand how he feels towards others. We lost our parents to some extent just like he did. Just about all hybrids are normally untrusting because of their pasts.” Ayiko nodded in agreement.

        Allura replied, “Perhaps if Keith has a chance to meet you both, along with your former generals, he might feel more at ease after connecting with other half-Galra like himself. That seems to be how Ayiko grew to trust you and the generals, Lotor.”

        “It wouldn’t be easy to get through to my former generals after their betrayal,” Lotor frowned bitterly. “Even when I proved myself to be superior by killing my own father.”

        Ayiko turned to look at Lotor, eyes now filled with shock and worry. “Lotor… you truly did it?”

        The new Galra emperor nodded. “Yes Ayiko; my father Zarkon, after 10,000 years, is dead.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s done now; I’m fine, along with everyone else.”

        “That’s what you said after that Trueblood assassin shot you in the back with that lethal blaster,” Ayiko countered. “The worst part was that he was actually aiming for me. Your armor was fixed easily enough, but you had to be put into a healing pod for two days while Acxa filled in for you. And back then, it wasn’t just me who was worried about you when you came out.”

        Lotor cringed at the memory. “Well, that was far different from fighting my father. I only came out of the fight with my father a little scratched up; nothing a little minor healing couldn’t fix. My father was far worse for wear than I was; he's gone now.”

        "And we couldn't be more happy for it as well," Allura added. "I admit, I was skeptical at first, but it's proved very beneficial on the long run. We've learned about so much about each other, and the similarities between those we've become close with."

        Ayiko blinked. "Like the fact that the one called Lance acts eerily similar to Ezor?"

        Lotor chuckled fondly at the female hybrid. "You've noticed that as well; still as perceptive as always. Not much gets past those bright eyes of yours when it comes to meeting others."

        "I merely watch and listen more than I speak," Ayiko replied with a subtle smirk. "And unless I perceive a stranger as a threat, I won't fight them either. "

        "I hope you can handle being around Lance, though," Allura admitted. "He's always had an odd habit of getting... too close for comfort around females of all species. At least you merely needed to give him a tendril to the wrist to make him stop."

        "Allura... doesn't realize... slap hard..." a strange voice muttered from outside the door. Ayiko spun towards the door she heard it from, tendrils flying to it. The door opened only to reveal that the Miero hybrid had a very surprised Lance pinned to the floor face-down.

        "I had a notion that it would be him to set her off," Lotor mused with a frown. "I'm sure you now realize the consequences of tangling with a Miero, Red Paladin?"

        "...Yes," Lance choked out from his position before the tendrils retracted. He got up to his feet, rubbing his aching back as he stalked away.


	4. Three

        Lotor and Ayiko assumed that Shiro and Lance were done with their training session since Lance was out at the bridge eavesdropping on them and Allura. The hybrid aliens met each other's gaze, as if they were thinking the same thing as Plachu jumped down to the console.

        "Allura, would you mind if we went to the training deck?" Lotor asked. "There is something we wish to try."

        Allura smiled and nodded. "Of course. It's just down the corridor Lance came from. There's plenty of things to do in there. Meanwhile, Plachu thinks Platt took off with one of Coran's things, again."

        Ayiko nodded to the Altean in thanks before the two went down the corridor.

* * *

        "I believe that you are currently in the area is where they hold the Gladiator robot," Lotor assumed, at the computer in the observation deck. "I'm setting it at Soldier Level. Let us see how those mechanisms have affected your fighting capabilities."

        Ayiko nodded in determination from the training room below, tendrils waving. She had on her familiar fighting helmet, which looked similar to Lotor's. The main difference was the open back for her tendrils, covered by a stretchy, protective fabric pinned between the crest and base gasket.

        She focused on the mechanisms replacing her hands, turning them both into large katar blades of violet energy. The Gladiator dropped from the hatch in the ceiling, armed with a long staff with something strange on the tip. The robot instantly charged the Miero hybrid, who was nearly run into the wall as she dodged the instant attack of both the robot and the staff. It instantly ran to her again, twirling the staff only to be met with the twin blades.

        Ayiko felt the cold sting of electricity from the strange tip, but refused to call it quits. She twined some of her tendrils around the staff, with two more locks slithering around its arms, binding them to the heart unit from below. Using the leverage of her tendrils, she jumped back, dancing around the robot on tapered legs. She whipped fiercely at the robot's heart unit with repeated waves of tendrils, one after another, causing it to stall. When the Gladiator went slack in her tendrils' grasp, she dropped the staff and rushed in with her blades, skewering the heart unit.

        The slit-eyed hybrid held her blades in the robot's chest until its lights went out. Only then did she retract her tendrils and blades, watching it get dropped down a trapdoor.

         _"As I figured; your skills are still as sharp as always,"_  Ayiko heard Lotor from in her helmet. _"I might even argue that they haven't changed at all. Now, I managed to find these odd-looking headpieces, which I believe are thought-projectors that I saw the Paladins using on one occasion. I was wondering if we could see how well they work."_

        "You can bring two of them down here," Ayiko replied. "One for each of us. Perhaps our best way of using them will be through our shared memories."

        Lotor soon came into the training deck with two of the headpieces, giving Ayiko time to unpin and take off her helmet. After handing one to her, the two put on the objects and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

        "Now what to start off with?" Lotor inquired. "Perhaps... when you first found yourself on my ship?"

        "The day when I had instinctively attacked Narti and the other generals," Ayiko added. "I suppose we can try."

        Lotor nodded before they closed their eyes and concentrated, thinking back to when it had happened. A screen appeared in front of each of the two. One showed someone piloting a fighter ship en route to a crater, the other is so dark it's hard to see what's happening besides a dim sense of movement before going completely black. Lotor's screen showed him landing the fighter alongside an injured, unconscious Ayiko, cutting her bonds and removing a prisoner's helmet. Then it was him putting her in the fighter, flying back to his ship, handing Ayiko over to Zethrid, and watching her head off.

        Ayiko's screen, however, showed several mixed images of Trueblood members during her life, which was probably what she was dreaming of in the pod. After a while, the screen showed her opening her eyes to a blind lizard-like alien with a cat. The second Kova meowed in greeting, her screen blurred and became nearly white, which must have meant that was when her eyes had dilated. A dark blue mass was thrown where Narti was standing. The mass swept to the side, crushing Narti against the wall as Kova ran out the door.

        Lotor's screen showed him and the others seeing Kova rush into the room as the ship rattled from a crash. It then showed him and the generals running to the infirmary. Ayiko's screen showed more masses of different colors running into the room. More masses of dark blue showed up on that screen, grabbing the unfamiliar forms and holding them against the wall.

        The screens soon merged and grew larger when Lotor's showed him entering the infirmary. It showed him seeing all of his generals pinned against the wall by the tendrils. When Ayiko on the screen looked at him and threw a lock of them towards him, he took out his sword and got them tangled around it. He was soon dodging the tendrils thrown his way from Ayiko's blurred vision.

        When Lotor had gotten close enough to grab her hand, the screen showed Ayiko stopping completely, the masses of dark blue falling away. Her vision dimmed to the normal lighting and cleared up as her pupils retracted. The screen had no audio, so it just showed Lotor saying something to her before Ayiko looked over at each of the generals before taking a hesitant step out of the pod. Ezor stepped up and gave Ayiko a welcoming hug, Acxa put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Narti nodded to her in forgiveness, and Zethrid looked to be commending her strength. But most of all, Lotor still held her hand, a fond, knowing smile on his face.

        "So that is what happens when your eyes darken," Lotor realized as the screens vanished. "You become more sensitive to light, and it becomes difficult to see clearly." Ayiko opened her eyes to see that Lotor's now donned a sympathetic light. "No wonder you were so frightened; you couldn't see that you were among friends because you couldn't see to begin with."

        "Precisely," Ayiko replied. "It's purely instinctive when a Miero's pupils dilate and they start attacking. Though, the way you looked at me back then..." Her serpentine eyes softened towards the new Galra emperor. "You would always look at me like that before I finally trusted you enough to speak. You had to have known how hard a road it would be just for me to do that much."

        "By all the galaxies..."

        Lotor and Ayiko looked to the door to see Allura and the Paladins standing there. All of them were staring at the two, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. And judging by the shocked expressions on all of their faces, they had to have seen part, if not all, of the projected memories.

        The half-Galra pair and the Paladins were stock-still. Ayiko's bright blue eyes looked ready to dilate any second, and all of her tendrils were tense and ready to strike. Lotor looked like a wound-up spring, ready to jump into action in case that happened, as he recognized her body language. He slowly took off the headpiece, giving Allura a clear look to tread lightly.

        "I... never knew the headpieces could actually do that," she said slowly. "Using shared memories to synchronize each other's minds... it's incredible."

        "Seeing how you two had first met is amazing," Pidge added. "We never actually met any of the generals besides in battle, so it's a great experience just to see a memory of what they're like." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

        Realizing that there wasn't any need to be frightened, Ayiko took a deep breath and calmed down. Her eyes had returned to their calm, icy disposition as she removed the headpiece and picked up her helmet with her tendrils. The helmet was lifted into her arms as Allura took the thought-projectors.

        "I suggest you get to know some of the Paladins personally, Ayiko," Allura commented to the Miero hybrid. "You can start off with Pidge in the Lions' hangar, since you both have quite a bit in common. You'll see."

        Lotor nodded in agreement. "The Green Paladin is quite intelligent. She reminds me quite a bit of Acxa and Narti."

        Ayiko looked down at Pidge, computer and all. Lotor had a point; she did seem to be a born tech-master like Acxa while holding a typically quiet and strategic outlook like Narti. (She even had the strangest feeling Pidge had some sort of small companion at some point like how the blind general had Kova.)

        "I'll bet," Lance quipped, grabbing the half-Altean's shoulder and pulling him away. "We need to talk, _your highness_."

        "Wonder what's his problem," Hunk shrugged. "Anyway, I've got some stomach-training to do. And Shiro, please make sure Coran doesn't get any ideas in the kitchen while I'm gone."

        "Anything to make sure we have something edible to eat," Shiro replied jokingly as he and the Yellow Paladin left.

        "I'm heading back to the bridge to check for any distress signals," Allura stated. "Ever since the Kral Zera, some renegade Galra leaders have been at each other's throats causing trouble for us."

        Ayiko nodded at the departing princess before she felt Pidge tap at her arm, looking down at the smiling Paladin.

        "Follow me," she grinned. "I'll show you to all the Lions."

* * *

        Lance dragged Lotor into the lounge, closing all the doors to it behind him before letting him go. "Alright, Lotor, we need to talk."

        Lotor blinked. "I believe you already said that. Is this about Ayiko attacking you at the bridge?"

        "Somewhat," the Red Paladin replied, sitting down on the couch. "Now be honest with me, pal. Do you like Allura?"

        Lotor deadpanned. _Not this again._  "I've already told you, Red Paladin. No, I am not attracted to the Princess in that manner. The connection between her and myself is a necessary alliance and friendship."

        Lance leaned back, crossing his arms. "I see. Well, then what about that other half-Galra back there, Ayiko?"

        Lotor was silent, his eyes turning to the floor.

        "I knew it!" Lance exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "You _are_ in love with someone! But it's with Ayiko instead of Allura like I first thought."

        Lotor looked up at Lance, eyes widening. "What? How in the galaxy did you come to such a conclusion?"

        "It's as obvious as that strand in front of your face, Lotor. I see how you look at her and how you reacted to hearing her cries on Mierome. And don't get me _started_ on that projected memory thing you had going on in the training deck; you were making moony eyes at her and neither of you realized it. And the fact that she's only talked when  _you_  are around is  _proof_  that she likes you back!"

        "Those statements concerning myself may be accurate, but those of Ayiko are poorly founded. Her selective muteness is a defense mechanism. Since I'm the only one she's actually close with in the castle, you're jumping to conclu--"

        "Apapapapapapa!" Lance flapped his hand at the other. "You admit that you like her and you're telling me I'm jumping to conclusions? I _know_  she actually likes you. It's hard to see, but it's there all the same. Piece of advice, first chance you get to tell her how you feel, take it."

        "Given how I've had to be on the run from my own kind before the Kral Zera, it hasn't been easy to find any chance like that." Lotor sighed and rubbed at his temple. "Ayiko was correct, the similarities between you and Ezor are terrifying."

        Lance looked appalled. "Now you're comparing me to the  _chameleon_ _?!_  Dude!"

        "Because she said the exact same thing about telling Ayiko how I felt," Lotor elaborated. Lance didn't seem all that convinced, only firing a burning glare at the exasperated Galra. _Do all of these Earthlings have such a temper?_

* * *

        "These are the five Lions of Voltron," Pidge stated as she and Ayiko reached the Lions' hangar. "Lance pilots the Red Lion, Allura pilots Blue, Hunk flies in Yellow, Shiro flies in Black, and I fly the Green Lion. They're amazing works of technology with a hint of sentience that even shows they're _alive_."

        Ayiko nodded in understanding as she went to the center of the hangar. She had the strangest feeling that they all were watching her with caution, hostility, inquisition, or even sympathy. "I can feel it," she murmured. "The way they're all watching me."

        "Really?" Pidge's eyes widened. "How? What do you feel from them?"

        Ayiko's eyes scanned over the Lions. "The Red Lion is hostile to seeing a stranger. The Yellow Lion, though kind and willing to befriend, is cautious. The Green Lion is curious. The Blue Lion hopes to make a friend. But the Black Lion... it's as if it knows that my life was hard, and holds sympathy."

        Pidge looked at all of the Lions with wide, curious eyes. "Wow, that's amazing. I never knew that anyone besides a Lion's Paladin could sense their emotions."

        "Lotor and the generals always said I was perceptive once I was acquainted with them," Ayiko shrugged as she walked up to the Black Lion. "These Lions remind me of a project I used to oversee back home, before I was discovered as a half-breed. I guess because I could connect with them, I'm also able to feel the emotions of the Lions."

        "A project?" Pidge echoed. "It must've been really similar to the Lions if you could connect with them the same way you can here. Did you see the completion of it?"

        Ayiko shook her head. "After my discovery, I was taken off the position and returned to being a normal commander. I found out they did it to make it easy to kill me. When Lotor and his generals conquered the planet, some Miero generals shot me into the crater where we found the material for the project." She held up the metallic wedge attached to the edge of her wrist. "I wonder if something in the crater was what caught the Druids' interest."

        "We may never know," Pidge remarked, sitting on the Lion's paw. "But whatever project you were in charge of must've been incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if whatever was made from that material was just like what the Lions and Lotor's ship are made out of."

        Ayiko wasn't really paying attention, looking up at the enormous mechanical feline. She remembered the long, lithe, black metal bodies she used to look over every quintant. The broad stripes running along the sides of each one, each machine having different-colored stripes. The black diamonds in the midst of different-colored lights that formed the eyes. The largest of them had an enormous hood, bearing Galra empire purple stripes and eyes. And yet, one of them, striped neon blue with electric eyes and sharp fangs, felt like it connected with her on a deeper level than all the others.

        Her mind wandered to being with Lotor and the other generals. Ayiko remembered how surprised Zethrid was when she realized that, besides the Miero glow, there was no hint of true light in her eyes. She only struck back by saying Lotor was the same way; he didn't have any "true light" in his eyes either. Ayiko remembered how Ezor started cracking up at how flustered Zethrid got at the statement. Acxa smiled in amusement, and Lotor even chuckled. Zethrid only made a half-hearted comeback with asking if Miero even have an antimatter version of Quintessence _and_ Voltron. Ayiko nearly spilled the provisions on that one...

        "You okay?" Pidge asked, causing the Miero to snap out of it and look back at the worried Paladin. "You looked like your head was going down Memory Lane for a tick there."

        Ayiko smiled in amusement and nodded. "I'm alright. Why don't you show me some of the technology you've created on this ship?"

        Pidge's eyes lit up. "Sure! Follow me!" She took Ayiko's wrist and started leading her out of the hangar.

        _That was close,_  Ayiko thought in relief. _I almost spilled it while lost in my memories back there. I haven't even told Lotor or the generals about my Decessence or the Serpents yet. Though I admit, I was going to the day I was captured. What would make me think the Paladins deserve to know?_


	5. Four

        "This is the Galra finder that I made along with Hunk and my brother Matt," Pidge showed Ayiko on the screen from her chair. "We use it to keep track of Galra factions that want to cause trouble for us and all our allies in the Voltron Coalition."

        Ayiko scanned over the screen from the chair she was in. "Fascinating. It reminds me of Ezor's station back on Lotor's ship. She was always in charge of keeping track of fleets from the Galra main base, and those of our own allied planets."

        Pidge looked at the Miero in interest. "Ezor's the pink one with the camouflage and throwing knives, right?"

        Ayiko nodded. "Yes. She was always the most playful of the group, but she didn't let her childish behavior get in the way of her work. But, in her free time, she'd enjoy throwing any small expendable object she could find at the crew or sentries. She'd even invite the other generals and myself to join her, though it was usually only Zethrid and/or myself who did so."

        The Green Paladin giggled. "Sounds like something Lance would do. I wouldn't be surprised if those two became really close after meeting each other. I've been trying to get a hold of Lotor's generals for a while now to see whether they want to join with us, but I haven't found them yet."

        "That's likely because they've been with Haggar ever since they betrayed Lotor, which likely occurred after Narti's death. I'm surprised they even considered joining that witch, even if they didn't know what she's done. Haggar was spying on them with Narti and Kova, and she may have even had her abduct me and send me to the Druids."

        "The Druids? Shiro's dealt with those guys, too. They're the ones who took his arm and replaced it with that Galra prosthetic. I'm... guessing they did the same to your hands."

        Ayiko nodded sadly and looked down at the metallic objects. "And what I wouldn't give to reverse it. I confess, I'd take the first chance I obtained to tell them what Haggar's done to Narti and me. Then, I'm sure they'd see reason and apologize to Lotor for their betrayal. Perhaps even rejoin with the two of us like before."

        Pidge noticed the look in the hybrid's eyes. "Hey, Ayiko, if you don't mind me asking... Do you like Lotor? As in, like-like?"

        Ayiko's head shot upward, cheeks turning dark gray. "Wh-what? I... I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Green Paladin."

        Pidge's eyes narrowed. She obviously knew what she meant; that coloring had to be the Miero equivalent of a blush resulting from her gray blood. "Right. From where I'm standing, you do understand what I'm saying, but you're afraid to admit it. And Lotor might even like you back. I bet my bottom GAC that's what Lance dragged him away for back at the training deck."

        Ayiko quietly looked down, tapping her hands together like a human girl playing with her hands. "Well... I only ever noticed that the look in his eyes changes when he turns to me. Ezor and Acxa said he never looked at any of them that way. And Zethrid was always calling me out for making him act strange..."

        "I figured as much," Pidge smirked. "If his eyes only ever 'change' when he looks at you, it's a telltale sign he likes you. I'm sure he'll confess to you at some point in the near future, since he has all the time he needs to prepare himself now that he's emperor. But in the meantime," she pulled out an odd-looking mechanism from a box near the computer, "want to pick out a song for karaoke?"

        Ayiko's blush disappeared as she blinked in confusion. "What's 'care-oh-key'?"

        Pidge's eyes glinted with an unnerving light, though the Miero took care not to show her unease. "You'll find out soon enough. According to my map, there aren't any stray Galra factions duking it out near any of our allied planets. As long as we don't get any distress signals from the Blade of Marmora, we'll be headed to Olkarion to tell Ryner and the other Olkari about our new alliance with the Galra under Lotor's rule."

        "The Inventor Race," Ayiko recalled. "Very interesting. I've always wanted to be part of an off-planet expedition when I was a commander on Mierome. Unfortunately, while I was stronger than most Miero, my past experience with blood-purists and my existence in itself made me 'disloyal' to the planet in many forms. I was also deemed forbidden to enter any sort of celebration, musical or otherwise."

        Pidge's mischievous face turned to one of sympathy as she returned the mechanism to its compartment. "No wonder. Welp, that means a lot of things to teach you about when we get to Olkarion! There's a lot you've been missing out on, Ayiko. But in the meantime, have you seen those vlogs the guys and I made?"

        "Yes. Lotor, Allura and I had a look at each of them. And between you and me, I've noticed some startling similarities between you and your comrades and Lotor's generals. Lance is so similar to Ezor, I'd wager that they'd connect immediately if they get to know each other, as Allura calls it. And there are very many similarities between this Keith and general Acxa, physical and emotional alike. And given how quickly you bonded with a reprogrammed Galra droid, you are much like Narti and Kova when she was alive."

        "Really? I guess I never noticed. If I remember right, Narti was the blind one with the big tail and cat. Though I have seen how Acxa and Keith seem to look a lot alike; don't think those two have realized it. But I don't think Lance would like being compared to the chameleon. Anyway, we all did the vlogs right here. You should try giving one yourself."

        Ayiko's head tilted. "Me giving a video about myself? How would that help?"

        "You can get some things off your chest that you might have wanted to for a while. You can do it whenever you're ready to, so don't feel any pressure about it. You can even do it at night when no one else is around to intrude, so you can take all the time you need."

        "Will I have to deal with that Coran setting off the alarm again?" Ayiko asked in caution.

        "That whole thing last night was an accident. Coran didn't know what you looked like and set the alarm off manually. As long as we don't get any actual intruders, the alarm isn't going to go off automatically." The sound of a bell began to ring throughout the castle.

         _"Paladins and guests, we're preparing to wormhole to Olkarion,"_  Allura's voice reported. _"We're heading off in 3... 2... 1..."_  The castle gave a slight rattle as it entered the wormhole.

        "It appears that your assumptions were correct, Green Paladin," Ayiko mused.

        The other girl nodded in agreement. "Looks like it. Though that rattle seemed to last longer than usual." The castle shook again as it left the wormhole, accompanied by an unnoticed hiss in Ayiko's head. "There it goes again. I wonder what's causing it. The map's coming completely clean, so hopefully we aren't being followed."

        "Let's hope so," the Miero agreed. "Miero are good at cloaking their ships physically, but their signals are easy to trace, along with whatever bugs they might put on an opposing ship. However, given our general guerrilla tactics, I doubt many would want to openly invade a civilization like the Olkari just for a lone half-breed fugitive."

        "Especially if said fugitive is bigger and stronger than they are," Pidge added with a grin before standing up, gesturing for Ayiko to follow her. "Come on. We can go greet Ryner and the other Olkari when we land."

* * *

        The Paladins came out of the castleship mere seconds after it landed on Olkarion. While they went out into the sunset scenery outside, Lotor and Ayiko stayed hidden on the lift, waiting for Allura or Shiro to give the word for them to come out. They couldn't hear the conversation outside, but there was something off about two cloaked figures among the refugees. When one of them turned their back, showing a toxic green ouroboros around a white diamond, Ayiko's eyes widened in fear.

        "What is it?" Lotor asked, noticing the fear in her eyes.

        "Those cloaks bear the symbol of Trueblood," she explained. "Don't be fooled into thinking they're merely Miero missionaries. Those two aren't just that, but assassins as well. Remember when you were shot by one of them? That assassin wore the same symbol on his cloak. If either of them see us..."

        "Most likely a lethal shot coming from each of them," Lotor finished with a scowl, "and another trip to the healing pod for both of us."

        "If we even survive the shots," Ayiko cringed. "You were lucky when you survived protecting me last time. I don't want to see anyone fall to a Miero assassin. The energy in their blasters is toxic to just about all species; you only survived because you have such a high concentration of Quintessence in you."

        "You two can come out now," they heard Shiro say, making both of them freeze.

        "Quiznak," they both cursed under their breath.

        Ayiko slowly reached out with a tendril, wrapping it around Pidge's wrist and tugging gently, urging her to come to them.

        "There are two Trueblood assassins on the building," Lotor hissed when she was right in front of them. "We aren't going out there to be captured or even killed."

        Pidge's eyes widened. "I thought you said they weren't going to follow you!"

        Ayiko shook her head as she let go of the Paladin. "Not normal Miero, but I didn't say a thing about Trueblood." Her eyes shifted, widening before she shoved Pidge onto the ground. She felt Lotor pull her and himself against the wall a fraction of a tick before two acid green shots streaked past, blasting against the base of the opposite wall. The tiles smoked and sizzled from the shot, glowing red from the sheer heat of the toxic blast. Seeing the stunned Miero hybrid, Lotor pushed the recall button, closing and sending the lift back up into the castle.

        "What was that?!" Lance yelped, eyes panicked from the surprise blast they just barely dodged.

        "Probably some sort of blaster fire," Shiro assumed. "Ayiko and Lotor must've seen whoever was planning to shoot them. That's why they decided not to come out."

        "Ayiko said it was a couple of Trueblood assassins," Pidge reported as she got up. "They must've been hiding on Olkarion for a while now, and heard the news of us saving her. No wonder she looked so freaked out."

        "A-a-assassins?" Hunk echoed in terror. "Hey, guys, m-maybe coming here to Olkarion wasn't such a good idea."

        "You needn't worry, Paladins," Ryner assured the group, a glare hiding in her eyes. She gestured towards the building where Olkari and refugees were searching around. "That blast was shot for all to see. Whoever attempted the attack will be easily discovered. When they are found, we will keep them in custody and report to you as quickly as possible."

        Allura smiled in relief. "We thank you for the assistance, especially after such a shocking occurrence. I'm sure that if Ayiko and Lotor were out here, they'd thank you as well."

* * *

        Lotor slowly led a traumatized Ayiko through the corridor, step after shaking step. He had one arm around her shoulders, and his other hand was holding her wrist, reassuring her of his presence.

        Ayiko trembled with every tiptoed step she took, her breathing rapid and choppy. Her pupils were reduced to needle-thin slits from watching the lethal shots fly past. She was barely responding to him, muscles tense; even her eyes weren't glowing, which must've meant her mind went dark back there. Her torso rattled with her heartbeat, and her pulse throbbed against his hand.

        "What happened out there?" Coran asked when they passed through the bridge.

        "Trueblood assassins," Lotor answered quietly. "No one was hurt, but Ayiko's still in shock after the flash they caused. And I'm sure they also brought up some bad memories. I'm bringing her away until she gets back to her senses."

        Coran's voice immediately dropped in tone and volume. "I understand. I hope she quickly recovers from the shock. I'll ask the Paladins about it when they get back."

        Lotor nodded as he continued to lead the Miero along. "It's alright, Ayiko," he murmured. "The assassins missed us both. You, the Paladins, and I are all safe." Secretly, he wondered if she had a similar reaction when he  _did_  get shot. Ezor said she and Narti had to lead her away from the scene while Acxa and Zethrid took him to a pod. She didn't have a good history with lethal blasters. He had even begun to assume if her mother was killed by a lethal shot, and she was there to watch her mother's demise. If she truly was only 12 deca-phoebs old when it happened, that would be a fairly traumatic experience.

        Finally, Lotor had reached the lounge. He led her through the automatic doors and sat her down beside him on the couch. She only closed her eyes as her head came to rest against his shoulder. Slowly, he felt her relax, heart slowing down and breaths lengthening. He pulled her closer with the arm with which he was previously holding her wrist, clawed hands trailing through her tendrils in the process.

        Lotor remained like that with Ayiko for a long while; 15 dobashes, according to the ticker. He watched her in the trance she was in, her heart and breathing returning to a normal rate. Once he was sure she had fully calmed down, he whispered, "Feeling better, Ayiko?"

        Ayiko slowly opened her eyes, sitting up straight as Lotor let her go. Her eyes had returned to their normal, glowing appearance, and she looked much better than she did just after the blast in the lift. "Yes," she said softly, looking up at him. "I must've gone blank there for a bit after seeing those lethal shots. At least no one was injured, I hope."

        Lotor nodded. "Everyone is safe. Though you were in that trance for 15 dobashes. We should return to let the Paladins know you've recovered from the shock of that failed assassination. I'm sure the Olkari won't allow those assassins to attack us again."

        "A trance again?" Ayiko cringed as they both stood up. _At least it was only 15 dobashes and not a varga._ "Maybe Ezor was right: I do have post-traumatic stress around deadly shots."

* * *

        "There you are," Allura sighed in relief as the two came outside, after making sure there were no assassins. "We were getting worried when you didn't come back out."

        "Just needed to overcome the shock, Allura," Ayiko explained. "Have you found the assassins?"

        "Yes," Ryner answered. "We have already captured them both and imprisoned them for the attempted killing. You must be the Miero halfling the Paladins were speaking of."

        Ayiko gave a small smile of relief. The word  _halfling_  carries a much more positive connotation than  _half-breed_. "Indeed. My name is Ayiko, former commander on Mierome and former..." She stopped herself. _Quiznak! Now what to cover that slip-up..._  "Former Druid test-subject," she recovered with a frown.

        "That explains the hands," Shiro added, gesturing to the mechanisms in question.

        Ryner gave Ayiko a knowing smile. "I see. It is rather difficult to speak of how the Galra empire was before Lotor has taken the throne, with a far kinder heart than his father ever could."

        "Quite true," agreed Lotor. "I suppose it's a trait that comes with the territory of being a  _halfling_ , as you call it." He smiled at Ayiko, a glint of light appearing his eyes just for a moment. "Despite the aggression we face from our parent species, Galra or otherwise, we grow to become better than how we're treated."

        Ayiko smiled softly at him in return, her eyes also momentarily holding the same glint. "Indeed. The dark only makes a small light brighter."

        Just then, a teenage human boy ran over to the Paladins, stopping to catch his breath for a dobash. Ayiko automatically shut her mouth, eyes turning to an icy gaze. She noticed the newcomer looked very similar to Pidge, but stood over a head taller. _Definitely related,_  she figured, _but he looks much too young to be her parent. A sibling, perhaps?_

        "Hey there, Pidge," he greeted. "I came back from the refugees on the outskirts as soon as I heard. Something about a failed assassination attempt. You weren't the prime target, were you?" he asked, looking worried.

        Pidge smiled. "Don't worry, Matt. No one got hurt, especially not me. In fact, they were aiming for Lotor and his  _very_  close friend, Ayiko. The assassins were just a couple of Miero people from planet Mierome, and totally failed in causing any physical harm. However, those two needed a little bit to recover from the shock." She and her brother turned to the half-Galrans. "Ayiko, Lotor, meet my older brother Matt."

        "Charmed to meet you," Lotor greeted as they shook hands. Matt turned to do the same with the other, but she only took a step back, eyes not leaving him. "Ayiko is a bit apprehensive towards those she doesn't know," Lotor informed, "but she will open up in due time, I assure you."

        Matt's smile softened as he looked back at Ayiko. "Shy type, huh? It's okay, any friend of my sister's is a friend of mine." His eyes traveled down to how Lotor was unknowingly brushing his hand against the mechanical wedges attached to her wrists. His eyes widened before he turned back to Pidge, whispering something in her ear. She nodded once before turning back to the two.

        "Since we have a little down-time, let's get to that karaoke I promised Ayiko! Wouldn't want to miss teaching these two something they've missed out on for who-knows-how-long." She grinned as she and Matt grabbed Ayiko and Lotor by the arm and started pulling them away.

        "This is the third time I've been led away  like this in one quintant," the half-Miero whispered as they were being led along.

        "Four times, including after the blast not too long ago," Lotor corrected with a slight smirk. "You'll get used to it."


	6. Five

        Acxa wasn't showing it, but she was incredibly nervous.

        Haggar had instructed the crew to head to the Patrulian Zone right in front of a white hole that could easily melt the entire ship under its radiation. And the woman still hasn't told her, Ezor, Zethrid, or anyone in the crew about why they're here. The blue-skinned Galra hybrid was terrified for the well-being of herself and her comrades. The aimless spacecraft boneyard surrounding the cruiser only made it worse for her nerves. The overwhelming heat and light radiating from the white hole wasn't any help either.  _Ayiko would despise this place more than all of us; the polar opposite to her home planet._

        Acxa caught herself at the thought. She hadn't given much thought about the Miero hybrid since after she vanished. Lotor always had the sneaking suspicion Narti was tied into it, since she was the last one to see her before it happened. Unfortunately, it wasn't like they could ask the blind, mute general and expect an answer. It's almost too coincidental that Lotor had to go and slit her throat hardly a deca-phoeb after the searching was called off. Maybe the thought of Narti being the reason for Ayiko's abduction  _and_  the discovery of the Sincline ships was the last straw for Lotor.

        It did make sense, after all.

        "Acxa," Haggar hissed, calling the general from her thoughts. "Direct the crew to fly the ship into the vortex."

        Acxa's eyes widened. _Into_ the _vortex?_  Was this witch _insane?!_ They could all _die_ if they went in there! If not by the radiation, than by the debris flying everywhere.

        "Don't disobey me," the witch snarled. "I know what hides inside the energy within. I know that I am worthy to enter into it."

        Acxa bit her lip before bowing her head in relent. "Of course." She turned and went to the deck above the flight crew. "The High Priestess wishes to fly the ship into the white hole. Do not question her orders and fly as carefully as possible." She used her order-reciting voice that she practiced from being with Lotor. After giving the orders, she went out into the corridor to be met with Ezor materializing in front of her.

        "Did you _seriously_ just say that, Acxa?" the pink-skinned general asked, her voice hushed but demanding. "You know we can't survive being in that thing for long. What happens if we die out here?"

        Acxa sighed and started walking away, "We have no choice, Ezor. We can only obey Haggar's orders or else she'll see to our slow, painful demise."

        Ezor rolled her eyes with a groan as she started following her fellow general. "You told us that a hundred times, Acxa. Look, I've checked the maps; we're only a few dozen light-years away from Mierome. If Ayiko is there, since investigating the Druids' projects was a total bust, she could one way or another help bring us back to Lotor without any trouble. Think about it; things'll go back to the way they should be. Don't try to deny it, you miss those times as much as Zethrid and I do."

        Acxa was going to open her mouth to reply when the ship suddenly jerked backwards, throwing them both against the wall and floor as the alarm started going off. After getting up, the two ran to the main deck, seeing the nearing center of the white hole. A face of a lion appeared, opening its mouth as an orb of sheer energy began to form. Before there was any time to react, the lion fired a beam at the ship, sending it back out of the vortex. A thin black beam showed Haggar attempting to repel the attack, but it broke through and overloaded all the ship's systems.

        Fearing the worst, Acxa rushed to get her helmet. Ezor ran after to do the same, and judging by the heavy footsteps behind them and the enormous Galra hybrid catching up with them, so was Zethrid. After getting their helmets and putting them on, the girls turned to head to the escape pods and get away with some semblance of their lives.

         _ **BOOM!**_

        Everything went white as another beam pierced the hull of the cruiser, blowing it up completely and throwing the generals to the open space.

        Acxa was in shock, so much so she could barely breathe despite the automatic glass of her helmet allowing her to. Her fellow generals and friends were adrift in the space between the front and back of the ship, unconscious if not close to it. The blue-skinned general couldn't move at all, which left using the thrusters of her suit completely out of the question.

        Along with the apparent paralysis, Acxa was finding it increasingly hard to keep her eyes open. She barely registered a Druid ship taking Haggar from the ruined cruiser before it took off at the speed of light. But before she could call it quits, three long shapes entered her blurring vision. Stripes of bright red and golden orange light went in the directions of Ezor and Zethrid, while she found herself met with bright acid green eyes.

         _Sssleep, child,_  a rasping, but gentle voice spoke within her mind... Or was it her comm?  _Trussst in usss. We'll bring you to sssafety._.. Before Acxa could get a word out, darkness -- along with something else -- had engulfed her.

* * *

        Keith wasn't expecting to see five different-colored snake-like ships flying past him. And from the looks of things, neither was his mom. They had gotten back from the mission concerning Ranveig's super-weapon to report the outcome of it. They told Kolivan that they couldn't stop or destroy it, but they managed to break up the fighting between the factions. Kolivan didn't show any reaction to the report, but told the mother and son to remain on standby before they're needed again.

        Thankfully, neither of them were in the mood to sit around the base and  _wait_  for something to turn up. Instead, they took a small ship to head off to Olkarion and check in on how things were going for Team Voltron. However, that was when the snake-ships flew past them on the port side.

        "What the quiznak?" Krolia raised a brow. "Where did those things come from?"

        "No idea," Keith replied in just as much confusion. "But they're headed to Olkarion pretty fast, and there are life signals coming from inside three of them. I say we follow them and see what's going on here."

        Krolia nodded. "Good idea. Besides, we can meet up with the friends you made while we're at it." Keith averted his gaze as he steered the ship in the snakes' direction.

* * *

        "And here we are!" Pidge exclaimed as she and Matt let go of Ayiko and Lotor. They were in one of the buildings near the east side of the city, and it seemed to have once been for different types of musical celebrations. There was even a sort of stage and huge screen in the room they were led into. Pidge went off to a computer system not far from the screen and stage. "Now to start off, karaoke is basically singing the words to a song, called the lyrics, without the actual singer."

        "To kill two sentries with one shot, we'll have you two pull a duet," Matt added. "That's a song with two people singing a song together. You'll have to go on the stage to pull it off. Here are the headsets you'll be using to sing through." He took out a couple of small headsets, and the two hybrid aliens each took one.

        "I've always learned to sing my whole life just to participate in the music of my homeworld," Ayiko murmured as she put it in place with a tendril.

        "And I was once taught music on a planet I had custody of before my exile," Lotor added as he did the same before they both went on the raised platform.

        "Alright, so what should it be?" Pidge asked her brother as she plugged her handheld device into the computer, bringing up all her song files. "At first, I was thinking about this one, but it's a solo. Since we're doing a duet, should we do this one or this one?"

        "Dead Hearts or Rewrite the Stars," Matt read in a quiet voice. "I'd say the second one. We need a real love song with _just_  a hint of space for this double-sided crush."

        "You read my mind, big brother," Pidge grinned before turning to the hybrids. "The lyrics will turn up on the screen behind you. The lyrics are color-coded depending on which part you sing. Lotor will sing when they're purple, Ayiko when they're blue, and together when they're black. Just as a precaution, we'll add in a quieted version of the real voices to your headsets, so you can match your voices with them."

        "Sounds simple enough," Ayiko muttered. "We're ready when you are."

        Matt nodded before Pidge clicked on the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8vUIyGe8Y), setting the lyrics to scroll across the screen. Lotor waited for the voice to come in, then began.

         _"You know I want you_  
It's not a secret I try to hide  
I know you want me  
So don't keep saying our hands are tied  
You claim it's not in the cards  
But fate is pulling you miles away  
And out of reach from me  
But you're here in my heart  
So who can stop me if I decide  
That you're my destiny?

 _What if we rewrite the stars?_  
Say you were made to be mine  
Nothing could keep us apart  
You'd be the one I was meant to find  
It's up to you, and it's up to me  
No one can say what we get to be  
So why don't we rewrite the stars?  
Maybe the world could be ours  
Tonight..."

        Matt and Pidge looked on in approval. Lotor was surprisingly good at singing. Now it was time for Ayiko to show her own voice.

 _"You think it's easy_  
You think I don't want to run to you  
But there are mountains  
And there are doors that we can't walk through  
I know you're wondering why  
Because we're able to be  
Just you and me  
Within these walls  
But when we go outside  
You're gonna wake up and see that it was hopeless after all

 _No one can rewrite the stars_  
How can you say you'll be mine?  
Everything keeps us apart  
And I'm not the one you were meant to find  
It's not up to you; it's not up to me  
When everyone tells us what we can be  
How can we rewrite the stars?  
Say that the world can be ours  
Tonight..."

        Matt and Pidge high-fived as they listened to how the Miero hybrid sang. They knew they had this one in the bag before it started. They watched on politely as Lotor took Ayiko's hand, sparking a dance between them.

 _"All I want is to fly with you_  
All I want is to fall with you  
So just give me all of you."

_"It feels impossible!"_

_"It's not impossible."_

_"_ _Is it impossible?"_

_"Say that it's possible!"_

_"How do we rewrite the stars?_  
Say you were made to be mine?  
Nothing can keep us apart  
Cause you are the one I was meant to find  
It's up to you, and it's up to me  
No one can say what we get to be  
Why don't we rewrite the stars?  
Changing the world to be ours."

 _"...You know I want you_  
It's not a secret I try to hide  
But I can't have you  
We're bound to break and  
My hands are tied..."

        "Now that's what I call a duet!" Pidge cheered as the song ended and the two removed the headsets. "And let's be honest here, you two; it isn't just your singing voices that are a perfect match."

        The two averted their gaze, cheeks turning respectively magenta and dark gray. The two suddenly looked up as they heard an odd hissing in their heads. The ominous **_boom-boom_**  coming from outside caused alarm to the siblings.

        "What was that hissing?" Ayiko asked Lotor.

        "Hissing?" Pidge echoed in confusion. "I don't know what hissing you heard, but we heard something land, and it was something big." She looked down at her handheld as she removed it from the computer. "Allura says three enormous masses appeared in front of the Castle of Lions, too. We'll have to see what it could be."

        Matt nodded in worry. "Yeah, if that hissing is linked with whatever landed outside, that's probably something we'll need to take a look at. Let's get out there and check it out."

* * *

        When the group of four left the building, they were met with two enormous, black, metallic bodies. The size of the objects blocked the entrance, and it was difficult to see where they stopped. One had a broad, bright cyan stripe trailing down its side, rippling like a sky dotted with clouds. The other was striped with a shade of purplish-pink eerily similar to the color of the Galra symbol.

        "What are these things?" Pidge asked in awe.

        Ayiko bit her lip before looking up at Lotor. "Something I should've told you and the generals about before I was kidnapped."

        As if in response to her words, the bodies fluidly slid away from the entrance, revealing themselves as two massive snake-like ships. Both had their heads held high, with black diamond-shaped "pupils" in their eyes. The one with cyan side stripes and eyes looked like a pit viper with its lean body and long fangs. The one with purple stripes and eyes was more like a cobra with its wide, raised hood and shorter fangs.

        "The Cyan and Cerise Serpents," Ayiko explained, "that's what they are. They, along with the other three -- Scarlet, Citrine, and Sage -- were created from the energy-rich ore of a comet on Mierome. I supervised the creations for a time before I was discovered as a half-breed. These two were the first to be completed. Cerise is the leader, signified by the hood; Cyan is the closest one to Cerise... and the one I found myself bonded to."

        "Interesting," Lotor mused. Without warning, Cyan shot its head down, jaws closing around Ayiko. Ticks after, Cerise did the same with Lotor. Not long after, the hybrids found themselves in the cockpits of the respective Serpents.

        The layout of the dashboard was familiar to the Miero halfling. One touchpad on either side of the pilot's chair with a large keyboard directly in front, like any Mieran ship back on Mierome. The touchpads for Mieran ships were like control levers on normal ships like the Lions, and the keyboard was for any weapons or other features.

        She remembered having to actually _teach_ Lotor and the generals how to pilot Mieran ships. Acxa, Narti, and Lotor picked it up fairly quickly, and Ezor only had a spinout or two. But Zethrid took the longest to master piloting a Mieran fighter, and on one occasion nearly crashed hers into the petrified forest.

        Ayiko laid her mechanical hands on the touchpads, feeling the Serpent respond to her touch. The main screen showed Pidge and Matt looking up at Cyan and Cerise in horror.

        "You needn't be so frightened," Ayiko told them. "I'm sure one or two of your Lions did the same thing to welcome in their Paladins."

         _"_ _Oh, right,"_  Pidge said. _"Yeah, the Blue Lion did do that with Lance and the rest of us when we found it back on Earth. I think Red did the same to Keith, too."_

         _"I'm impressed with the technology of these Serpents,_ _"_  Lotor commented as he showed up on the side-screen. _"At least I remember you teaching us how to pilot Mieran spacecraft. The Serpents seem to hold a slightly higher level of sentience than the Lions, and a surprisingly accurate homing system to find their pilots."_

        "They were created to have that homing system," Ayiko pointed out. "The other three may have activated because their pilots -- or Warriors -- were in danger, and followed these two to their pilots, which are the two of us." She tapped at the keyboard so Cyan would set down its head, opening its jaws to let in the Holt siblings. "Come in. We can get to the castle faster this way."

        Pidge shrugged and walked in without a fuss. Matt was a little hesitant, but soon followed. Once the two were in the cockpit with Ayiko, she and Lotor flew them into the air with the hover thrusters on the Serpents' sides and tails.

        The two headed down to the castle, seeing three other Serpents coiled in front of it, heads on the ground and mouths open. One was a fluorescent orange, built strong as an anaconda. Another was a deep, bright red, as thin as a whip snake. The last one was an acidic lime green, with the body of a king snake.

        When the Cyan and Cerise Serpents had landed, Ayiko asked through the speakers, "Has anyone gone into the Serpents?"

         _"Lance is going into the red snake,"_  Shiro replied.  _"Hunk's going into the orange one. We're still talking about who'll check the green one."_

        "We can check who's inside them. At least then we can see if anyone is inside them." Ayiko tapped at the keyboard with her tendrils, watching the screens appear. To the shock of both the Galra hybrids, they saw the generals unconscious on the floor inside each one.

         _"It's Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid,"_  Lotor gasped.

        "What are they doing in there?" Matt asked.

        "The same reason Cyan and Cerise came to me and Lotor," Ayiko answered as the screens went out. "The generals are their Warriors. Something must've happened while they were working under Haggar. They were probably badly hurt, so the Serpents saved them and brought them here."

         _"That makes things easier for us,"_  Lance remarked as he went into the Scarlet Serpent. He soon came out with Ezor cradled in his arms. _"Looks like she got pretty banged up."_

         _"Guess that means I'll have to go in with Hunk,"_  Shiro shrugged as he and Hunk went into the Citrine Serpent.

        "Let us down so we can get the last one," Pidge said. "We can get Acxa out of the green one."

        Ayiko nodded and had Cyan let down its head, opening its mouth so the siblings could get out and run into the Sage Serpent. Hunk and Shiro came out with Zethrid, her arms slung on their shoulders and her feet dragging along. The Holt siblings came out with Acxa the same way.

         _"Let's get them into the healing pods,"_ Allura suggested as the generals were brought into the lift. _"Lance is right about them being in bad shape. After they're healed, we'll keep them in the brig until further notice. After all, they were working for Haggar."_

         _"Hey, anyone in there?"_  a male voice asked in the Serpents, though no screen showed up. _"Uh, whoever was piloting those... snake-ship things, can you tell us why you were going to Olkarion?"_

        Ayiko blinked in confusion. "On the way here, the Serpents were piloting themselves. If you don't mind, who is this?"

         _"Keith, former Paladin of Voltron and present Blade of Marmora member. I'm here with fellow Blade of Marmora member Krolia."_

        "Keith," the Miero echoed. "Uh, if you like, you can land if you wish. The Serpents had come from planet Mierome, and are completely harmless unless they are provoked." She watched as a small pod-like ship came into the atmosphere and went into the castle's ship bay before coming out of Cyan. "Allura, it seems that this 'Keith' has already seen the Serpents."

        "Keith is here?" Allura's eyes widened. "Do you think he was following these... Serpents?"

        "I wouldn't be surprised if he was," Lotor replied as he came out of Cerise. "They are difficult to miss. But where to put them for the time being?" In response, the Serpents slithered along the ground, positioning themselves around the castle before coiling up like serpentine sentries.

        "It seems that answers that question," Allura smiled. "Let's go inside to meet up with Keith."

* * *

        After the generals were put into healing pods, everyone went down to the ship bay. They found Keith waiting with a Galra woman who looked oddly similar to him. Ayiko's eyes went back to their usual steely gaze once they looked up.

        "Been awhile, Keith," Shiro mused as he and Keith clasped each other's arms in a brotherly manner.

        "Nice to see you here again, mullet," Lance greeted his old rival. "And who's the lady you got there with ya?"

        "Don't even," Pidge dragged him away before he could start flirting. "We are not in the mood for your flirting right now."

        "Thank you, Pidge," Keith nodded to the Green Paladin.

        "What's Lotor doing here?" the woman asked. "And who's the girl with him?"

        "Lotor is our ally now, and this is Ayiko," Allura introduced.

        "Hey guys?" Hunk spoke up. "Uh, I don't think anyone but me has noticed this. You two have kinda the same bangs. And the same face... And the same glare," he added the last one when Keith and the Galra woman shot him a look.

        "Hunk does have a point," Coran agreed. "Just by appearance alone, it seems you two are more alike than a couple of twin yelmores."

        Keith deadpanned at the Altean before taking a deep breath. "Everyone, this here is Krolia... my mother."


	7. Six

        Lance's jaw would've dropped to the floor if it wasn't attached. Almost everyone in the room had similar expressions of shock. However, Allura seemed to be much less surprised, and much happier for Keith.

        "I knew it!" Hunk exclaimed. "You two being so alike _couldn't_ have been coincidental! Guess that means the phrase 'like mother, like son' is true for you two."

        "K-Keith, this -- this is great," Shiro stuttered after getting over the shock. "After all this time, you finally found your mom. And she's with the Blade of Marmora, too."

        "Your mom is a  _Galra?!_ " Matt cried. "Nobody told me anything about _this!_ "

        "It's a long story about how we found out, Matt," Pidge explained to her brother.

        "It's wonderful to meet you, Krolia," Allura greeted as she shook the woman's hand.

        "Likewise," Krolia replied. "It's nice to see how Keith has made so many friends. It's probably because humans haven't even seen or heard of the Galra, but halflings aren't normally treated all that well by either of their parent species."

        "We know quite a bit about that, ma'am," Lotor agreed. "And according to what we've heard, he wasn't even aware of his Galra heritage for most of his life."

        "Figures," Krolia muttered before looking at Ayiko as a few of her tendrils flicked. "You must be one of those Miero I've been hearing about. You seem a little different compared to what I've heard."

        "That's because you've only heard of pureblood Miero," Ayiko replied in a quiet, clipped voice. "My father was a Galra."

        Krolia's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Anyway, I've heard that my son was once a Paladin of Voltron. Mind if we go see the Lions?"

        "Sure," Pidge chirped. "We're not far from the Lions' hangar, and Ayiko and Lotor can show you the Serpents outside. Let's go!"

* * *

        Krolia stared up at the five sitting Lions in total awe. The eyes of the Red and Black Lions glinted as she came to them both.

        "They know you're his mother," Ayiko remarked. "It seems that they both see the resemblance."

        "I wouldn't be surprised," Shiro mused as he walked past the Miero hybrid, accidentally grazing his human hand against her wrist. "You two really do look pretty similar. Wouldn't be surprised if he inherited more than the looks from you."

        Krolia chuckled. "Yeah. He told me that I said the exact same thing he did on one occasion: 'Shut up and trust me.' No wonder he gave me such an odd look afterward."

        Lotor looked at Ayiko as she froze from Shiro passing by her. Her eyes were slightly widened, and the pupils had become slits again; she felt something was amiss. Lance and Keith looked over to meet the Galra-Altean hybrid's gaze, as if they could see the worry building in him and the Miero hybrid.

        Lance cupped a hand over his mouth. "We'll talk tomorrow," he whispered, gesturing to Shiro with his eyes. Ayiko looked up at them as she and Lotor nodded silently.

        "Now for the Serpents," Krolia turned back to the others. "After all, Keith and I deserve to see the crazy ships that came zipping by us from that death-trap, the Patrulian Zone."

        "That will have to be done tomorrow," Lotor replied, checking the time. "It's getting late. Tomorrow after the morning meal we can use the lift to reach them. They're all outside, and since they behave similarly to the Lions they will only respond to their Warriors. Since those for the Scarlet, Citrine, and Sage Serpents are still in healing pods, they will be dormant for the time being. The only two that will be active until the others recover are Cyan and Cerise."

        "It is getting rather late," Allura agreed. "At least the castle was built to have many spare rooms besides those of the Paladins. Let's go and get some sleep."

* * *

        _Ayiko was walking through a corridor of Lotor's old cruiser, singing to herself in Mieran. She just finished a military report from the most recent planet Lotor and the generals had conquered. Little would they know she was ready to tell them something else, too._

_Usually it was Acxa's job to translate reports, but taking the planet proved harder than they originally thought and they all got hurt to some extent. The Miero hybrid, using the usual tactics of her kind, came out largely unscathed aside from a few singed tendrils. It didn't take much to take care of them; just remove any dead tissue and avoid using them for a bit while they heal up._

_Needless to say, the others were all in the infirmary treating their injuries. Lotor sort-of-ordered the generals to get some rest until they were completely healed up, while Ayiko "helped" with their usual jobs. Given how they were pretty spent and in pain anyway, there wasn't much resistance to the idea of rest. Honestly, the whole group was rather surprised that even Zethrid got knocked around. Though that may have been because she sustained a concussion after getting too close to one of the main weapons._

_" ~~A certain sort of soul, will show you your true~~  -- Oh, evening Narti," Ayiko went from Mieran to English as_ _she saw the blind, mute general walk by. Her tail and feet were patched with bandages from the fighting. Kova meowed at her in greeting from Narti's shoulder, a small snack between his paws and a small bandage along his back. Ayiko paid her no mind, thinking she was going to her quarters to rest her injuries like Lotor told her and the others._

_Then Narti's sharp claw caught the side of her neck._

_Ayiko's vision blurred as her body walked into one of the escape pods against her will. She watched helplessly as Narti put all her tendrils into a helmet and put it on her head. The lizard-like general even put chains on her arms and legs to ensure she couldn't move. Afterward, Narti typed coordinates into the pod's system. After letting go of Ayiko's neck, Narti left the pod and got it to launch as the Miero hybrid passed out._

_When Ayiko woke up, it was to a jarring shock in the escape pod. Several cloaked figures glared down at her from behind their masks. A cloaked woman, Haggar, soon joined them, looking down at her with glowing, yellow eyes. In an instant, she was levitated by the Druids' magic and was soon being brought down an unfamiliar corridor._

_"It seems my plan to capture this half-breed has worked," Haggar rasped. "Since this is a Miero with Galra blood, she will undoubtedly be more compatible with our technology than purebloods of her kind. You there, prepare to commence Operation Kuron stage 2."_

_Ayiko weakly struggled against the magic as she was brought further down the corridor. She caught a glimpse of a pale-skinned creature lying on a table, wires and probes on his head. In mere ticks, the specimen was released from the table, eyes now glowing bright yellow like Haggar's as a smirk crept up his face. The metal prosthetic arm he had glowed as he rushed at Ayiko, helpless as his hand rose above her, prepared to strike --_

"Ayiko," _a male's voice called to her._ "Ayiko, wake up. Ayiko!"

* * *

        The Miero hybrid jumped awake with a gasp, eyes wide and tendrils ready to strike.

        "Ayiko, it's alright," the voice from her dream murmured as careful arms wrapped around her. "It's only me." Ayiko now recognized the voice, forcing herself to take deep breaths before looking up at the Galra emperor sitting on the bed.

        "L-Lotor?" she asked when she had fully calmed herself down. "Why are you here?"

        "You were crying out in your sleep," he replied softly. "Were you having a bad dream?"

        Ayiko nodded slowly, eyes falling. "Yes. It was a memory of the day I was captured, and Narti was the one who sent me to the Druids. There was something about the Black Paladin being a clone, or something similar to it. He was about to strike me with his metal arm and... then I heard you calling for me. It may have been because of what I felt when the Black Paladin went past me. The energy I sensed... it seemed almost... counterfeit."

        Lotor's eyes widened. "Counterfeit? No wonder you were so put off when he walked past. I have a feeling that we will eventually converse the matter with the Red Paladin and the halfling former Paladin. They seem to share concern towards the matter." Ayiko expected Lotor to release the embrace he currently had her in and return to his own room.

        That's why she was surprised when he laid her down on the bed with him.

        "L-l-Lotor?" she stuttered out. "What... What are you doing?"

        "Hush, Ayiko," the half-Galra male murmured as he pulled her closer against him. "It's still late, and we need our rest after a long quintant like this. Your dream clearly isn't any help in the matter." His hand began to roam through her tendrils, stirring a strange feeling in the Miero hybrid.

        Ayiko began to feel sleepy in Lotor's grasp as he pulled the covers over them. "...Of course, Emperor Lotor," she whispered, closing her eyes.

        She felt a faint rumbling from Lotor's chest, almost like whenever she heard Kova purr in Narti's arms. "No need to call me that... Just sleep..."

        The Miero hybrid only gave a small, contented sigh as they drifted off.

* * *

        The next morning, everyone was heading to the dining room for breakfast as soon as they were ready for the day. Keith was even in his old Paladin armor, which the Paladins took as a pleasant surprise. As per usual, Hunk got up early to start getting things ready for everyone. To the relief of Ayiko and Lotor, no one seemed to know about the night terror she had.

        However, once everyone was finished, no one was expecting there to be food goo splattered over the wall opposite to the kitchen. Or Hunk rushing out of there like he'd just seen a ghost, covered in the green paste. He even had a dish towel with him, probably to try cleaning himself off.

        "AAAAGH! Guys, the kitchen has mutineed again!" he shouted in a panic. "The food goo machine has gone wacko!"

        "We can see that," Keith and Krolia said in unison.

        "Actually, it could just be one of Ezor's pranks," Ayiko pointed out. "Lotor and I know some of the things she does in her spare time when she's not throwing things at sentries."

        "Very true," Lotor agreed.

        "AAAAAAAAAGH!! THE FOOD GOO HOSE IS ALIVE!!" Lance screamed as the hose seemingly flew out of the kitchen, squirting everywhere. Ayiko was able to shield herself with her tendrils, but just about everyone got hit at some point; even Lotor took a hit to the eyes as he stood up, causing him to stagger.

        "Victory or death!" he exclaimed, about to charge.

        _Not while I'm here,_  Ayiko thought, using a lock of tendrils to gently pull him out of the way to the wall. She looked at how the hose was "suspended" in the air to realize it was more like it was being carried. On top of that, there was a very subtle ripple in the air next to it. The Miero hybrid shot a lock of tendrils at the ripple, seeing them grab something as the hose dropped and retreated back to the kitchen.

        Whatever was once holding the hose coughed out, "Ayiko... can't breathe..." Ayiko knew that voice, slightly loosening the grip of her tendrils as Ezor revealed herself, back in her normal armor as she gasped for breath.

        "I had a feeling it was you, Ezor," the Miero hybrid sighed, letting go of her. A stray tendril took the hand towel Hunk had and dropped it over her hand as she went to Lotor. "Now, be quiet and hold still, Lotor. You just have it in your eyes."

        "You don't sound very surprised about my reaction," he commented as she cleaned his eyes.

        "I know how you can get when you're caught off-guard, Lotor," the Miero countered. "I'd be concerned if you  _didn't_  react like that." She stepped back and let him go once she was done, letting him open his eyes.

        "So sorry about getting you like that, Lotor," Ezor apologized, walking up to them. "The hose was a little heavier than I thought it was and I was trying to get those two," she pointed at an offended Lance and Keith. "Anyway, Acxa and Zethrid are still back in... whatever room you stuck us in while we were out. "

        "And you're coming back there with us, girly," Lance added as he grabbed her arms. "You and your gal pals might be friends of Lotor's, but you still caused us nothing but trouble before. Everyone else can clean up the mess; we can head out to see those Serpents afterward."

        "Whatever, kitty-driver," Ezor sighed. "I'm just glad we got away from Haggar in one piece, 'cause I don't think we would've survived much longer after the explosion and the white hole."

* * *

        When Ayiko, Lotor, and Lance got to the Sleep Chamber, Ezor's words proved correct. Acxa and Zethrid, sitting on the steps, looked up as the group approached as Lance released Ezor.

        "Ayiko?" Acxa asked. "You're alive?"

        "You know I don't go down easily, Acxa," replied the Miero hybrid.

        "Good to know you haven't bitten the stardust yet," Zethrid grinned. "It's been pretty tough ever since you vanished on us."

        "My disappearance wasn't actually my  _choice_ ," Ayiko elaborated before crossing her arms and glaring at them. "What I would like to ask is why you all walked out on Lotor while I was gone."

        Acxa winced and bit her lip as Zethrid's smile faded. "Well, it was after Lotor killed Narti out of nowhere. And when Zarkon announced that we were fugitives of the empire, we betrayed him in hopes of becoming part of the main ranks. And after he was killed, Haggar came to us."

        "I didn't kill Narti without a reason," Lotor growled in defense. "I noticed that Narti was acting strangely ever since my father returned to his throne. On the way back to the base, I discovered that the witch put a tracker on the ship. However, when our base was attacked, I realized the witch was using Narti and Kova all along. Combined with the feeling that she was also used to send Ayiko to the Druids..."

        Ezor's eyes widened in realization. "No wonder you did it. We all thought Ayiko left us willingly and Narti was the one to see her go. None of us thought it was actually Narti herself who sent her there. The whole 'kill on sight' thing from Zarkon wasn't any help, but... when she was killed... we thought you were going to kill us, too."

        Ayiko's glare softened as she replied, "You know he wouldn't do something like that. He adopted all of you into his ranks because you're half-Galra just like him. All hybrids should stick together, and I'm surprised you forgot that even for a dobash."

        Acxa's head lowered. "You're right. We should never have forgotten that. While we were working under Haggar, we began to miss the old times. Ezor and Zethrid wanted to abandon Haggar and apologize to Lotor, or at least try to find you, Ayiko... Please, if you wish to do away with us, you can just do it. We don't have anything else to lose now."

        Ayiko and Lotor looked at each other before Ayiko went to the generals. "There's no need to do that now. Your Serpents -- despite being created by and for Miero -- saved your lives so we could bring you here. If Lotor really was willing to kill you, he would've done so while you were unconscious."

        Lotor nodded as he walked up beside her. "It's clear that you've realized your mistake and wish to make up for it, even if it is with your lives. I will allow you back to the new Galra Empire, as your emperor and as your fellow half-Galra." He held out his hands to them. "Do you accept my offer?"

        "Gladly," Zethrid and Acxa replied as they took his hands and stood up.

        Ezor grinned. "No need to ask me twice! The gang's back together!" She gladly slung her arms around Acxa and Ayiko. "By the way, apparently there's another half-Galra I heard about while I was raiding the kitchen, and he's with the team. There was also this Galra lady with him, and I think they're related."

        "That's because she's apparently Keith's mom," Lance chimed. "Come on and grab your helmets. The others are probably done cleaning up all the food goo in the kitchen from the chameleon. Time to get a good look at the mechanical snakes that saved you from the Patrulian Zone."

        Ezor looked offended after processing what Lance said. "Chameleon? That better not have been an insult!"

* * *

        When the group got out of the lift, they found everyone except Shiro outside, looking up at the Serpents, fangs and all. Krolia was in total awe at the size of them, and how long they all were compared to any one of the Lions. From the looks of it, the generals were just as shocked.

        "These two are Cyan and Cerise," Ayiko explained as they joined the others. "I fly the Cyan Serpent, and Lotor flies the Cerise Serpent. The other three are Citrine, Scarlet, and Sage; they are the ones who saved you."

        "And each of you were found in a different one," Lotor added. "Ezor was in the Scarlet Serpent, Zethrid in Citrine, and Acxa in Sage. Their physical forms and colored sides and eyes make it simple to discern which is which."

        Ezor looked over at the remaining three Serpents. Upon looking over at the thinnest one that had luminous red along its sides and in its eyes, she ran over to it. She ducked into its open mouth and went to the cockpit. Just as she ran her fingers along the touchpads, the Serpent hummed to life, raising its head.

         _"Guess that means I'm taking this one,"_  Ezor remarked over the speaker.

        Zethrid looked to the two remaining Serpents, eyes falling on the largest of the group, which had bright golden orange sides and eyes. "Whoa. Look at the size of that one. That thing's a powerhouse; my kinda ship." She sauntered into the Citrine Serpent, sitting down in the cockpit before realizing something. _"Uh... Where are the levers on this thing?"_

        Lotor, Ayiko, and the other generals sighed and/or facepalmed in exasperation.

        "Zethrid," Acxa called up to the stronger general, "don't forget Ayiko told us that they're _Mieran_  spacecraft. You have to recall when she taught us to pilot Mieran ships."

         _"Oh, uh... Hold on a tick."_  Everyone waited until the eyes of the Citrine Serpent lit up and it raised its own head.

        "I do sort of remember seeing the Sage Serpent coming up to me," Acxa admitted. "It was after the explosion, so I was in shock and losing consciousness. But I heard a voice, telling me to sleep, and they would bring us to safety."

        "You made contact with Sage?" Ayiko's eyes widened before she smiled. "That's great news. Go on and head in; see if it remembers you."

        Acxa nodded at them before walking into the remaining Serpent as Ayiko and Lotor went into their own. A welcoming hiss entered her mind, along with an image of the Sage Serpent rescuing her when she passed out. Her eyes widened before she smiled and got to the cockpit, soon having Sage do the same thing as the others: hum to life and lift its head.

        The screen showed Cerise slithering around the group in front of the other four, letting out a frightening hiss and baring its fangs as it raised its hood. Cyan, Scarlet, Citrine, and Sage all let out the same battle cry. Ayiko even got the Cyan Serpent to unsheathe its two frighteningly long fangs.

        _"Reminds me of the day we first saw the Black Lion,"_  Keith commented from the ground.

         _"Now, just to be on the safe side, we should get the Lions acquainted with the Serpents,"_  Allura suggested. _"We wouldn't want any attacks on either side, and they have perceived various objects and people as threats in the past. The Red Lion, in particular."_

        "Fair point, Allura," Ayiko agreed. "Some odd things would happen when a Miero scientist touched Scarlet or Sage. Usually a warning hiss or flicked tongue, but one incident ended in a tail lash."

         _"Yeah, we'll be right back,"_  Hunk laughed nervously before he rushed the Paladins to the lift.

        Keith and Lance lingered in front of Cyan and Cerise. _"You sensed something about Shiro last night, didn't you, Ayiko,"_ Lance realized.

        "Yes, I did," Ayiko confirmed."The energy I sensed felt almost counterfeit. The memory I dreamed about last night wasn't any help. It was of the first day I found myself in the hands of the Druids. I saw the Black Paladin on a table. Haggar said something about a clone as well."

         _"I wouldn't be surprised if it truly was a clone,"_  Lotor admitted. _"The witch and her Druids' main weapons are black magic and a knack for trickery that very few can get past. Creating a clone from the Black Paladin's missing limb would be a simple, but effective plan."_

         _"And you think the Shiro we're with is said clone,"_  Keith finished. _"I don't blame you. Lance said Shiro's been acting pretty strange recently. We'll have to keep our guard up until we get some solid proof that he's real, or fake. Mom, can you keep this on the down-low?"_

         _"Of course,"_  Krolia nodded. _"Now you two get to those Lions. Since that Shiro could well be a clone, you should take the Black Lion."_

 _"Halfling,"_  Lotor said to Keith, _"before you go, I believe you should have this. Something tells me you will need it in the near future."_  The Cerise Serpent "spit out" the Black Bayard for Keith to catch it, giving a nod in thanks as the three went back in the castle.


	8. Seven

        "Alright, Coran, we'll be going to introduce the Lions to the Serpents," Keith explained as he, Krolia, and Lance got to the bridge. "Is Shiro going to come?"

        "Um, no," the orange-haired Altean shook his head. "Pidge went to ask, and she came back with a negative. You'll have to pilot the Black Lion."

        The three that were last to come in masked their relief. "Fine by me," Keith replied. "Mom will come in Black with me."

        "Been awhile since any of the Lions came out with a passenger," Coran commented. "Especially when said passenger was related to one of the Paladins. Have a good time."

        Krolia and Keith nodded as they and the others went down their elevators.

* * *

         _"I've actually noticed some things about the other Paladins, along with the one in blue,"_  Ayiko heard from Ezor as the Warriors waited for the Lions.

         _"Oh? And what would they be?"_  Lotor inquired, genuinely curious.

         _"Well, the one in blue seems to be putting up a sort of front. The look in his eyes when I looked at him... he reminded me of how I was back on my home-planet before I met you; hiding how sad and insecure he really is. The one in red -- Keith -- he's just like Lotor; he definitely seems to have a temper, and I can only imagine how lonely he must've been before meeting his mom. Though I gotta admit, you look just like him and his mom, Acxa, and if I remember right, you saw him back on your weblum mission."_

 _"I did see him and the one in yellow in the weblum,"_  Acxa confirmed. _"He even saved me when I was trapped inside its system."_

        "A weblum?" Ayiko echoed. "Those things are rather dangerous. I must say, the Green Paladin seems to be a... combination of Ezor, Acxa, and Narti. She and her brother are fairly playful and very close, have a large amount of intellect compared to their teammates, and she even has made friends with technology like a Galra drone."

         _"The puny one who fought Narti at that Galra base,"_  Zethrid laughed. _"Yeah, those were good times."_

         _"Here come the Lions,"_  Lotor stated as they began to come out.  _"Just to be safe, keep your Serpents reined in."_  The Warriors watched as the Lions hovered in the air above. All of them gave a quiet roar to the Serpents, met by flicking tongues and cautious glares.

         _"Okay, so far so good,"_  Keith remarked as he and Krolia appeared on the side-screen. _"Now for a short flight to the forest; see how we do with our groups sharing airspace. Guys, make sure not to get too close to the Serpents."_

        "We're ready when you are," Ayiko replied as the Serpents all got airborne.

         _"I'll lead the group with the Black Lion,"_  Lotor instructed, _"Ayiko and Acxa on right flank, Ezor and Zethrid on left."_

 _"Right,"_  the other Warriors replied in unison before they all took off.

        The flight went smoothly overall. None of the Serpents attacked the Lions, and vice versa. The Yellow Lion gave Citrine a push upward when Zethrid slipped up on the controls, but that was about all that happened.

         _"Halfling,"_ Lotor addressed Keith, _"I never had the opportunity to thank you for what you did back at the Kral Zera. If I was hit by the brunt of the explosion, I would've undoubtedly been incapacitated, and who knows who would've instead taken the throne."_

 _"Don't mention it,"_  Keith replied with a wry smile. _"Consider it returning the favor for saving me at Naxzela. I was about to pull a suicide move by ramming my fighter into the shield of the Druids' cruiser, but you blew it up from behind. I had just enough time to get out of there in one piece."_

 _"What?!"_  Krolia yelped. _"Keith, I doubt that would've helped if the shield wasn't going down even under heavy fire. Kolivan will have a_ lot _of explaining of his own to do once I get back to him."_

Lotor chuckled. _"So it was you who was flying out of the explosion. I had a feeling it wasn't an automated fighter."_

         _"I also saved you from one of the faction leaders at the Kral Zera,"_  Acxa added. _"You lost grip of your blade and had a sword poised over your head."_

         _"Yup, I remember that one too,"_  Keith confirmed. _"Your shot gave the chance to knock her out and get my blade."_

 _"Looks like we got a threesome that's found some common ground~!"_  Ezor sang.

         _"You got that right,"_  agreed Lance. _"Guess you're not as bad as I thought, Ezor. Or should I say, Rose. Get it? 'Cause that's your name spelled backwards?"_

        "Save the teasing for another time," Ayiko chided before the entire convoy reached the rainforest. "Besides, we're all finished with the flight. No problems came up and no involuntary attacks occurred between the Lions and Serpents. And as far as I know, a minor slip-up with the controls is perfectly normal, Zethrid."

         _"Aw, I was hoping nobody else saw that!"_  the Citrine Warrior groused.

        **_Boom!_**

        _"What was that?"_  Allura asked before all the ships turned around.

        To everyone's horror, they saw the Castle of Lions, with no word from Coran or Shiro, taking off.

         _"What the cheese?!"_  Lance cried. _"Why's the ship taking off?! Especially without us or a fair warning?!"_

         _"Coran, what is happening in there?"_  Allura demanded over the comms. Everyone got a side-screen of Shiro in reply. Only his eyes weren't the usual dark gray or white sclerae.

        They were glowing yellow.

         _"Sorry princess, your adviser is no longer at communications,"_  he smirked, a rasping voice merged with his own.  _"Operation Kuron stage 5 has officially commenced. From now on, I'll be in control of this ship, along with the duplicate of the Champion that took only a deca-phoeb to develop."_

         _"That witch,"_  Lotor growled, his voice shaking with anger.  _"Ayiko, we were correct. The Black Paladin truly was a clone created by the Druids."_

 _"Too late for that now, Lotor,"_  the clone sniffed. _"You will never be emperor to the Druids. With my greatest weapon and the last piece of Altean technology in my hands, we will bring the Galra Empire and the silly Voltron coalition to its knees."_

 _"We have to catch that ship!"_  Keith exclaimed before the entire convoy began to speed towards the ship. _"If that clone gets away with Coran_ and _the castle, there's no telling what the Druids might do to them."_

        "I don't doubt that," Ayiko agreed. "You haven't seen -- or, for that matter,  _felt_ \-- what the Druids are truly capable of. I have, and I'm sure that so has your original Black Paladin."

        Unfortunately, when they were only a few ticks away, the Druids' main fleet appeared in the sky. The largest ship began drawing in the castle with its tractor beam as the fleet began to attack.

         _"Everyone, take evasive maneuvers and counterattack!"_  Keith called out.

         _"No need to tell me twice!"_  Lance yelped as the Red Lion began to dodge the lasers and black magic beams. The other Lions and Serpents soon started doing the same. The Lions began firing their jaw cannons and tail lasers while the Serpents were slithering through the shots, firing lasers from the tips of their tails.

        "When I get ahold of the first Druid I see..." Ayiko seethed. She heard the hissing in her mind from Cyan again. She instinctively went to the keyboard, selecting one of the combat features. The Cyan Serpent instantly unhinged its jaw, a plasma cannon appearing between its fangs. After flying above the enemy fire, the Miero hybrid surged all her rage to the cannon. In less than a dobash, it fully charged and fired, melting and destroying one of the ships. Not a moment too soon, the Olkari ion cannon fired and destroyed a few more.

        But before the fighting could ensue further, all the remaining ships fired their black magic.

        Ten pain-filled cries pierced the comms between the Lions and the Serpents. The Lions and their passengers were quickly losing Quintessence, and four out of the five Warriors were being drained just as quickly despite the Serpents being unharmed. As a being not based with Quintessence, Ayiko wasn't affected the same way as the others, but the sheer force of the combined beams sent her and Cyan tumbling into the forest with everyone else.

* * *

        Ayiko was the first one awake, lying on Cyan's dashboard like a student sleeping on a desk. She slowly sat up straight and shook off the dull throb in her head and across her torso; both of which probably came from the crash. According to her surroundings, the Serpents themselves were the only beings besides her that were even remotely responsive.

         _At least I'm in better shape than everyone else,_  she thought. _That means I can call for help and check on the others._  She got Cyan to lift its head, seeing many Olkari surrounding the Lions, covering them with vines. "Is everyone still alive?" she asked through the speakers.

         _"Yes,"_  Ryner replied near the Green Lion. _"But they and the Lions are all very weak. Though I'm surprised that these other crafts haven't sustained as much damage."_

        "That is because of the material the Serpents are made of," the hybrid replied. "It has an energy that's an antimatter counterpart to Quintessence, leaving them immune to the draining effects of the Druids' magic. The Miero people and I are the same way."

         _"I see,"_  Ryner mused. _"We are doing our best to repair the Lions, but the Castle of Lions was taken after that final blast."_

         _So they gave us all they had and left while we were down,_  Ayiko realized with a sneer. "The Serpents are still responsive, so I'll check in with the other Warriors," she stated as her tendrils typed at the keyboard. Four side-screens instantly appeared, showing Lotor and the other generals to be unconscious. They all looked far too weak to be waking up anytime soon. "Quiznak. They're all in just as bad shape as Krolia and the Paladins probably are. And with Coran and the castle gone..." she trailed off, angry and upset that they couldn't stop that clone in time.

         _"We're sending for assistance from the rebel fighters,"_  Ryner notified. _"They will help transport the Lions and Serpents, and their passengers, until outside medical help can be attained."_

        "Many thanks, people of Olkarion. The aid is sorely needed." _At this point, I'm wondering if coming out of harsh battles unharmed is a blessing or a curse. I know that most weapons are created with and towards Quintessence, but that will only make anyone who doesn't know about Decessence suspicious._

         _"Pidge!"_  she heard Matt cry as he and some rebel fighters rushed onto the scene in a group of tree-mechs. _"Pidge, can you hear me?! Pidge! Katie!"_ He jumped out of one of the mechs, running into the Green Lion.

         _"We came here as quickly as we could once we heard,"_  one of the fighters stated, notably a yellow-skinned female alien _. "We'll bring the Paladins back to the city_ _in the tree-mechs_ _for healing."_

        "Given our circumstance, they only sustained minor injuries," Ayiko reported as she lowered Cyan's head to the ground and went through its open mouth. "The main cause for concern is the Druids' draining attack. Emperor Lotor and his generals are in a bad way despite being in the Serpents; Keith's mother Krolia as well."

        The strange alien turned to Ayiko with dark magenta eyes. "Thanks for the intel. Beezer was as worried as Matt when the Green Lion came crashing down. You'll have to help the rest of us with your... Serpent."

        "I intend to, once the Lions and other Serpents are clear of passengers. You may call me Ayiko."

        The girl nodded with a slight smile. "I'm Nyma. We'll make sure they're empty before letting you bring them back to the city."

        Matt came running out of the Green Lion, Pidge in his arms. "You bet. Those Druids are all kinds of trouble. You're lucky you got out of there still at full-energy."

        It took a while to get the injured Paladins and Warriors into the tree-mechs. True to Ayiko's words, they all had minor injuries, but were severely drained. Even Allura -- who had the most power and control over her Quintessence -- was barely conscious as she was extracted from the Blue Lion. However, when Keith and Krolia were removed from the Black Lion, it revealed that Keith now had a violet streak running down his cheek and the side of his neck; just like those of his mother.

        When everyone was taken out of the ships, the Olkari brought along five enormous hovering flatcars to place the Lions and Serpents on to bring them to the city. One of each could be on every linked platform. Ayiko went back into Cyan's cockpit, bringing the Serpent up slightly into the air. By wrapping Cyan's long tail around each of the Lions, Ayiko managed to get a Lion on each platform.

        Just when she was about to get to the Serpents, however, Cyan hissed at the other Serpents. All of them automatically slithered onto the platforms without a fuss, laying back down once they were fully on. Cerise went on the platform with Black, Citrine with Yellow, Scarlet with Red, and Sage with Green.

        "Thank you for that, Cyan," Ayiko murmured, running a hand along the perimeter of the dashboard. "Now, let's bring them back to the city, so we can keep an eye on our friends." The contented hiss in her mind voiced the Serpent's agreement. Once it looped its tail through the metal chain link on the platform holding the Cerise Serpent and Black Lion, the flatcars were soon being brought back to the city.

* * *

        The Miero hybrid sat at Lotor's bedside in the Olkari hospital, their helmets beside each other on the side-table. The healers had done all they could to tend to everyone's injuries, even checked her over just to be sure. She didn't have any issues besides some lingering soreness from being thrown against Cyan's dashboard.

        Still, despite the support from Nyma and her crew-mates, Rolo and Beezer, Ayiko was still furious at herself. She had the  _perfect_  chance to get the main ship in the Druid fleet. She could've  _prevented_  the castle from being stolen. Yet she went for a measly normal cruiser with Cyan's toxic plasma cannon only to get knocked out by an attack that couldn't affect her.

        "This is all my fault," she scolded herself, tears welling in her eyes. "I didn't incapacitate the main ship in the fleet when I had the opportunity, and now everyone's hurt except me." Her glowing eyes shifted to the emperor, an uncharacteristic calm gracing his expression. She smiled slightly despite herself, brushing her hand along the thin forelock on the side of his face.

        "You were the first person to get close to me ever since my mother's death, Lotor. And I'm sure I was the same for you ever since you were exiled. You and the others were like the family I've missed out on my whole life. During the Druids' experiments on me, and while I was on the run, I hoped it would be you to come back for me." She watched as Lotor shifted in her direction, sighing softly. "Ezor was right all along... we are meant to be."

        Ayiko was interrupted when she heard squeaking from the open door to the room. She looked to see the Altean mice running up to her chair. The Miero hybrid smiled down at them, letting down her tendrils for them to climb up to her lap. The mice looked really scared and upset, and she knew exactly why.

        "I know you must be worried about everyone, and I'm glad you got out of the castle before it was stolen. But the Druids used their magic to drain everyone's Quintessence, and now they have the castle and Coran. We can only wait for the others to wake up."

        "It would be wise of you to rest soon, Miero," one of the healers suggested, walking by the door. "Night is soon to fall."

        "I'll be fine," Ayiko whispered to the mice. "Mierome is a planet devoid of light. Nighttime on any other planet would be no difference than daylight there. You should go keep an eye on everyone else; let me know if anyone wakes up."

        Plachu nodded as he and the other mice jumped off and scurried out the door.


	9. Eight

_Lotor was standing in an astral plane; a white canvas streaked with yellow, blue, and pink. The familiarity of the scene made his skin crawl, and the fact that he was alone wasn't any help._

_"Ayiko!" he called into the emptiness. "Allura! Acxa! Ezor!"_

_He froze as he heard a low growling behind him. He spun around to see none other than the White Lion standing there, tail lashing dangerously. He barely managed to dodge as the spirit charged at him, roaring in anger._

_A white chain wound around his arm as the Lion grazed it._

_Lotor staggered under the surprise weight as the chain fell into the floor. He dodged another charge from the Lion only to end up with another chain around his other arm, pinning him to the ground. The Lion circled around him, giving a quick swat to each of his legs. Lotor gasped in pain, and felt the weight of even more white bonds around him, dragging him to the ground._

_Now at eye level with the White Lion, Lotor looked into its blank yellow eyes in fear. He was completely helpless to fight back, and the way it reminded him of his father terrified him. An image of his mother loomed in the sky above, warping into the face of the witch, Haggar. The Lion itself narrowed its eyes as it opened its mouth, ready to bite down on his head. Lotor shut his eyes, preparing for it to attack as the world around him began to darken._

_The White Lion roared in pain, and there was the sound of something falling heavily on the ground._

_Lotor cracked an eye open to see the sky had turned to the dead of night, Haggar's image no longer there. The White Lion was lying on its side, with two spirit snakes between it and himself. Both were a good deal smaller than the Lion, but they didn't seem to care, biting all over its body repeatedly. One was a bright violet, a hood spread behind its head, and fangs only long enough to be noticeable. The other was a bright sky blue, with no hood, but had fangs twice as long as those of the violet one. Judging by the black color blotching the White Lion, Lotor figured the two reptiles had a sort of "venom" affecting the Lion._

_The black of the snakes' "venom" continued to spread across the hide of the White Lion. The Lion itself began to disappear into white sparks, as did Lotor's chains. The snakes turned to look at him, eyes a bright silver except for a single black diamond in each eye as a pupil. The violet snake flicked its tongue before amiably lowering its hood, slithering up his arm to lay across his shoulders._

_As the White Lion disappeared completely, a figure appeared from the dark of the night. Two bright blue eyes opened in the dark as the person knelt down, letting the blue snake curl up in the crook of her arm. Lotor quickly stood up with her, recognizing it was Ayiko._

_"We'll always be here when you need us," she smiled at him. "You don't need to hide your fear from us. The Paladins, the generals and I, and especially Cerise, will make sure of it..."_

* * *

        Lotor slowly opened his eyes to a dim light around him. He felt drowsy and disoriented, like he'd been asleep a long time. There was a sound of breathing beside him, and a weight almost on his arm. He turned his head to the side, seeing Ayiko sleeping in a chair, her head resting on the bed he was in, a blanket draped over her shoulders. One of the mice -- Plachu, he recalled -- was resting right beside her.

         _What happened? Where are we? The last thing I can recall is... oh._

        The fight started coming back to him. The flight between the Lions and the Serpents. Haggar using the Shiro clone to steal the castle and Coran. Fighting with the entire Druid fleet... the combined beam of their black magic.

        Lotor was grateful that Ayiko had survived the blast of black magic that could've easily killed someone had it all been aimed at only one of them. The Altean mice seemed to be able to escape the castle before it was taken as well. However, the castle was still stolen while they were unconscious, and the witch may have been using that clone all along to spy on them.

        As Olkarion's sun began to rise through the open window, Ayiko and Plachu also began to stir. The mouse opened its bright red eyes, squeaking loudly the tick it made eye contact with Lotor as he sat up. Ayiko sat up as well, the blanket falling from her shoulders on the chair.

        "Good morning, you two," he greeted softly.

        "Morning, Lotor," yawned Ayiko. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

        Lotor's eyes filled with worry. "How long have I been unconscious?"

        Ayiko stretched out her arms, flicking a few of her tendrils. "One and a half quintants. Plachu's been keeping me company when he isn't with the other mice looking after the others. The healers did what they could for everyone's injuries, which were all minor. Chulatt and one of the healers even told me the others will wake up in no longer than a few vargas."

        "I'm not quite surprised about that," Lotor mused, patting Plachu on the head. "Though, I  _am_  surprised that you made such a swift recovery compared to everyone else."

        Ayiko bit her lip, looking down. "It's difficult to recall the last few dobashes of the fight. The Olkari believe the Druids' beam didn't affect me, if it even connected; I lost consciousness for no longer than a varga. Cyan and I had to bring the Lions and Serpents to the city after everyone else was extracted from them."

        Lotor hummed softly. "Given your position above the line of fire, I wouldn't be surprised if the combined beam didn't connect. You were likely only struck out of the sky by the force of the stream."

* * *

        After the two hybrids and the mice had something to eat, the others also began to wake. First it was Allura, then Krolia and Keith, the Warriors, and finally the other Paladins. Keith and Krolia were rather surprised with the new marking he had along his cheek, but Krolia was also glad about the mark being identical to her own. Once everyone had breakfast, they all met on the landing pad of the castle, where the Lions and Serpents were gathered in a sort of hibernaculum.

        Ezor looked closely at Keith and Krolia after everyone was there. "Yeah, Acxa definitely has the same face as you two."

        Krolia's eyes widened. "Wh-what? Acxa? What -- what are you talking about?"

        Ezor rolled her eyes. She ran over to the Sage Serpent, grabbed Acxa, and brought her back to the other two. "Be honest here, girl. You, your son, and my friend here all have the same face  _and_  shape of eyes. Not to mention, like Acxa, you also use a multi-mode pistol. If that doesn't scream 'family resemblance,' I don't know what does."

        Keith was just as flustered as his mother. "Wait, what? I'm confused. I don't remember seeing her anywhere before the weblum incident. How in the world can we be related?"

        Krolia was pretty nervous under the glare of the three Galra hybrids. "Well... you could be half-siblings. If the father to one child was lost fighting Zarkon's forces, and Antok took me away before I could save the child so the Galra took her. And if another mission where I was sent to another planet led me to meeting the one who'd be the father of the other child. And if I had to report back to Kolivan hardly a movement after the second child was born."

        "That... does sound like a likely story," Acxa admitted. "But..."

        "It sounds almost too specific to be just speculation," Keith finished, crossing his arms as the others began to notice. "Come on, Mom. You have to come clean. Everything you said happened to you and both of us, didn't it."

        Krolia grew tense until she finally withered under their gaze. "Yes, it did."

        In the chorus of surprised yelps and screams, Ayiko reached out with a lock of tendrils. She gently grabbed Krolia's wrist and pulled her aside to her and Lotor. Acxa and Keith were in too much of a daze to notice, so Ezor and Lance brought them to the edge of the landing pad to talk things out. 

        "I had a feeling that they were related in some way," the Miero hybrid told her. "They really do act very similar. You don't need to be ashamed about it, Krolia. You were forced to leave your children behind, but now you've found them both. My mother told me that my father had to leave us with barely enough time to see me."

        Krolia's eyes fell. "I know I shouldn't be ashamed, but I can't help it. I lost my first husband, and the second went missing while Keith was still young.  _B_ _oth_ of my children were left to fend for themselves. And I... I couldn't do a thing for either of them."

        "According to what we heard, it wasn't quite your choice," Lotor reminded her. "Your son grew to have a new family in the Paladins, as Acxa did with me when I took her in with my other generals. They all were discriminated against for carrying the blood of two species, just like I was by my father and the witch. As we all got together, _we_  became the family we were so desperate for."

        "That's exactly why I wanted to find someone who could understand and help them," Krolia said softly. "The one named Shiro -- the real one -- Keith said they were like brothers back on Earth. He didn't know he was a halfling until he activated my old knife."

        "So we've heard," Lotor mused. "I'm just surprised at how none of the Paladins or the Alteans noticed the manner of his battle style in the Black Lion. It resembled that of a normal Galra soldier, and not even he thought of it as such until he realized his heritage. My father was actually the first to point it out, according to one of the soldiers who were present in the battle."

        "I can only imagine how he must feel, being betrayed by that clone," Ayiko admitted. "I've seen what betrayal can do to a person and those close to them, and I can only hope that it doesn't happen very often, if at all."

        "Alright everyone," Allura called everyone over to the center of the platform. "I can see that everyone is severely distraught over the clone taking Coran and the castle to the Druids. But we will have to be strong if we're going to get either of them back. The Druids are incredibly powerful, and more dangerous than any Galra we've ever had to fight. Lotor, though it pains me to ask..."

        "Oh no you don't," Keith warned. "We've heard what's happened to Marmora spies in the Main Base. We don't want any of that happening to us."

        "Lotor would do nothing of the sort," Acxa assured him. "Ayiko says that he actually hopes to ally with the Blade of Marmora."

        "I understand, princess." the Galra emperor nodded. "I will contact the main base to notify the soldiers of our arrival. Until then, prepare the Lions and Serpents for the flight, as we no longer have a teludav to speed up the travel."

* * *

        The Lions followed behind the Serpents through the void of space as they left Olkarion. Lotor successfully secured an alliance with the Olkari and rebel fighters before he contacted the Galra Main Base. The commander who received Lotor's transmission got the orders of preparations for the Paladin and Marmora guests, and the other Warriors. The arrangements were that the convoy reached the edge of their current solar system for a cargo fleet to receive them.

        Sadly, their current situation was a further reminder about the loss of the castle. A tense, sullen silence lay heavily upon everyone in the convoy. Even Ezor and Lance's halfhearted attempts at conversation were quickly shut down.

        Ayiko didn't like the nature of how quiet everyone was. The fact that even the most talkative members of both groups were silent were especially concerning. Trying to ease her own stress and unease, she began humming to herself, which soon led to her singing.

 _~~"When the whole world is against you... Alone on Mierome...~~ _  
_~~You may find someone just like you... Facing hatred every day...~~ _  
_~~You might meet even more than one... They'll show you're not alone...~~ _  
_~~For that certain sort of soul... will show you your true home..."~~ _

         _"You never told us you could sing, Ayiko,"_  Allura's voice commented. _"Where did you learn that?"_

        Ayiko froze. ~~"What?! Were the~~  -- Were the comms on during that?"

        Ten voices replied in the same tone: _"Yes."_

        The Miero hybrid shrank in her seat in embarrassment. "It's a Mieran song my mother used to sing for me, when the beatings from the other Miero children and adults were especially bad. I... guess it's become a habit to hum or sing it when I'm either stressed or in a good mood."

         _"It definitely sounded like a lullaby,"_  said Pidge. _"Besides, Matt and I already know you can sing, Ayiko."_

         _"_ _I'm guessing you started singing because everyone else was being too quiet,"_  Krolia assumed. _"I can see where that's coming from. The quiet we had has been suffocating."_

        "I'm glad you understand, Krolia," Ayiko thanked the Galra woman. "I know you Paladins are upset about Coran and the castle being stolen by that clone. The rest of us are as well, but we can't give up hope. You said it yourself, Allura. Zarkon may be dead, but there are pieces of his regime that have yet to be picked up."

         _"You are correct, Ayiko,"_  Allura replied. _"It's just... difficult when both your home and your friend are taken out from under you."_

 _"A fair point, Allura,"_  Lotor agreed. They soon reached the edge of the solar system, where five cargo ships -- one larger than the rest -- and a single leading cruiser waited patiently for the group.

 _"And here's our ticket back to the Main Base,"_  Ezor chirped. _"Finally, heading back there like what we all should've been a long time ago."_

         _"Emperor Lotor,"_  a new male voice came through the comms. _"This is commander Torokan heading the fleet. Requesting permission to use our tractor beams to receive the ships and their passengers."_

         _"Granted, Torokan,"_  Lotor replied. _"Each ship may take one Lion and one Serpent. Paladins and Warriors, pair up via your colors."_

        All the others voiced their affirmation. The Blue Lion went to the Cyan Serpent, Red to Scarlet, Yellow to Citrine, Green to Sage, and Black to Cerise. Once paired up, the five cargo ships pulled all the Lions and Serpents inside, before the whole fleet began flying back to the Main Base.

* * *

* * *

        **Shadowgeist: Yes, I actually made that picture of Ayiko riding in Cyan. Best picture I managed to create so far from scratch.**


	10. Nine

        Off with the Green Lion and Sage Serpent, Pidge casually exited her Lion after the two crafts were safely in the cargo ship. The Serpent got itself situated around the Lion quite nicely, curled up next to its front paws. When Acxa came out of Sage, she noticed the Green Paladin carrying an odd-looking case. She watched as Pidge opened the case to reveal a computer, sitting on the Lion's paw like she did it every day with her helmet beside her.

        While Acxa was tempted to go see what the Paladin was doing, she attempted to resist the urge. However, curiosity won her over, along with recalling what Ayiko said about the small human's intellect and talent with technology. She cautiously walked over to Pidge, cradling her helmet under her arm. Upon getting a closer look at the human's technology, she noticed it seemed like a cross between two different types of technology.

        "Did you create that yourself?" Acxa asked, the usual hostility in her voice traded for curiosity.

        Pidge looked up at the general that was eyeing her computer. "Sort of. Back on our home-planet, it was just a normal laptop computer. Ever since we became Paladins, I've made a few tweaks so it can be used with Galra and Altean technology. Managed to give Green a few upgrades during our adventures, too."

        "Impressive," she mused, going up to sit on Sage's tail near the Green Paladin. "I've always been more of a tactician in the field myself. I never had many physical skills that could help me in battle besides my handheld blaster, so I adapted to using it for various types of combat. Even had to hack a few systems to make sure that our missions were successful."

        Pidge's eyes widened with a new light. "Really? I guess that makes two of us on... quite a few levels."

        "What do you mean?"

        "Well, neither of us are exactly strong in the physical department, so we have to use special tactics to get things done. We're both best with technology and use agility and speed in a fight instead of brute force. And I've hacked into a few Galra systems myself to help out the other Paladins."

        On that note, it didn't take long for Acxa to see she stumbled upon quite a bit of common ground. "Ayiko told me that we were quite similar. Back on Olkarion while we were waiting for you to arrive."

        Pidge hummed, typing away at the computer when an error message appeared on the screen. "Oh, come on! I've been trying to sync our Galra tracker with Lotor's map for a week at this point and the same error message keeps popping up every time I try to run the program. It's driving me crazy!"

        Acxa peered over the smaller pilot's shoulder, looking over the program. "Ah, there's your problem. You made a small mistake with your calculations."

        "What... Oh, there it is," Pidge tapped her own head with the heel of her palm. "Can't believe I didn't see that before. Let's try that one more time." She did her math over until everything was correct before running the program. Sure enough, the program went through successfully, and the maps were successfully synchronized. "Yes! Finally!" Pidge cheered. "Thanks... You're Acxa, right?"

        "Yes," the blue-skinned general nodded. "And Keith's half-sister as well, apparently."

        Pidge grinned up at her. "Never thought Keith would have a sister like you. We should do stuff like this more often." She held out her hand to the taller general. "What do you say?"

        A small, genuine smile grew on Acxa's face as she shook the Paladin's hand. "Definitely."

* * *

        "UGH!" Ezor groaned as she fell back in the open jaw of her Serpent -- which was coiled up with its head beside that of the neighboring Lion. "This is _so_  boring!"

        "I'll say," sighed Lance, huddled in the Red Lion's mouth. "Say, aren't you normally up at some sort of station or something?"

        Ezor snorted. "That was  _before_  we were allied with you and your friends. If there were any sentries here, I'd be doing target practice until either we got to the Main Base, or I fell asleep at my own game!"

        "If there's a training deck at the Main Base, I'll probably do a bit of target practice of my own," Lance admitted. "I know how good you are with your throwing knives anyway. Remember when I managed to get one of them when you tried getting Keith?"

        The pink-skinned Warrior looked over at the Red Lion. "How could I not? You're one of the first who could. I was also impressed that you found enough of an opening to block one of Acxa's shots, too. Not many people have those kinds of reflexes."

        Lance smirked with confidence. "Point taken... By the way, did you ever notice how Lotor and Ayiko act around each other?"

        Ezor burst out laughing, sitting up in Scarlet's mouth. "What do you think? I  _know_  for a  _fact_  that those two like each other. Have either of them confessed yet?"

        The blue-armored Paladin deadpanned. "Take a wild guess."

        Ezor made a sour look and fell back again. "Figures. Those two should just come out and say it already! I've talked to both of them about it a bunch of times when Ayiko was with us on Lotor's cruiser. So far neither of them have even begun to follow my advice to say it first chance they get."

        Lance laughed. "Pidge and I have been talking to them about it, too. She even told me how she and Matt got Lotor and Ayiko to sing a duet; and they _nailed_  it. Krolia and Allura also threw in something about him helping her with a nightmare; said neither of them left the room she was staying in until morning."

        Ezor whistled. "They've actually made some steps in the right direction while we were gone. Wait. Did you say your friends got Lotor to  _sing?_  I thought Ayiko was the only one in the crew who could do that!"

        The Red Paladin grinned and took out the orange handheld device that was his phone. "Apparently you are mistaken. They even got the whole thing on camera, though I never got the chance to see it. Come on over; we can check it out together."

        "Great!" Ezor jumped up at the invitation and went over to the Red Lion, plopping down next to Lance. She looked over his shoulder as he played the video. The way the Galra hybrids in the video sang and danced on the stage amazed them both. Ezor even caught herself swaying to the music by the time the video ended.

        "Whoa," Lance breathed once the video was over. "I never thought those two could even  _sing_  to Earth music; let alone pull off a duet like that."

        "I didn't think Lotor could do anything musical, period," Ezor added. "The most I heard was Ayiko singing her little Mieran lullaby. That was normally after a hard battle where everyone got hurt to some extent, or while she was filling in when one of the others couldn't do their normal job for some reason. She said she could do them all because Miero soldiers are trained for any sort of position, not just what they excel at. And that it made things easy in case a member of the crew is incapacitated or something."

        "Kinda the opposite of what I and the other Paladins dealt with on our home-planet," Lance shrugged. "If we're going to bring these two star-crossed lovebirds together for real, it'll have to be a team effort. Hopefully it'll be easy since they've both dropped hints with each other. I'll even invite Pidge when we get to the Main Base. You in?" He held out a hand in invitation.

        Ezor grinned and clasped the Red Paladin's hand. "You bet."

* * *

        Zethrid sat with her arms crossed in Citrine's cockpit, tapping with her finger. Her helmet was off and on her dashboard as she let out a frustrated sigh. "This is taking way longer than it should. Usually the ships would go hyper-speed back to the Main Base."

         _"I doubt they could pull it off with all of us,"_  Hunk spoke up on the side-screen.  _"Between the combined weight of the Lions and Serpents and the combustion it takes for these ships to go hyper-speed, hmm... Yeah, it'd be a red-letter quintant if even the lead ship got back in one piece."_

        Zethrid huffed. "Isn't that just quiznaking great. I'm sure Ayiko is having a blast with the only worthy opponent I've ever faced, if she and Lotor aren't giving each other weird eyes over the side-screens."

         _"Wait, you're saying Lotor likes Ayiko?"_  Hunk asked.

        "If that explains how Ayiko somehow got closer to Lotor within a deca-phoeb than the rest of us in our entire time with him, then yes. Neither of them even have actual  _light_  in their eyes like the rest of us. And the way they both act around each other..."

         _"It does explain it. But what do you mean by 'no actual light in their eyes'? Ayiko's eyes_ glow _, for Pete's sake."_

        "That _isn't_ what I meant, Yellow. The rest of us and all of you have an actual shine in your eyes; my people say it shows we have real life. Neither Ayiko nor Lotor have that. Their eyes are dull, and the only times I've even thought I've seen them actually shine is when they look at each other."

         _"So yeah, that basically means they do like each other. I think Pidge, Matt, and Lance have been trying to get them to realize their feelings. You think they'll actually get together?"_

        Zethrid shrugged. "Given how Ezor will probably join your friends, I say they will sooner or later."

* * *

        As soon as the Cyan Serpent and Blue Lion were brought in, the Cyan Serpent curled up by the Lion's side. Ayiko took off her helmet with her tendrils, laying it aside as she went up the hatch in the cockpit, sitting down on the head of her Serpent.

        "Your Serpents are quite impressive creatures," she heard Allura as she joined the Miero hybrid. "I wonder if your superiors wanted you to pilot the Cyan Serpent after you discovered your connection to it."

        Ayiko gave a chuckle void of humor. "That would never happen with them, Allura. We all know well enough they'd rather kill me then allow me to pilot Cyan. It's the same for all the other Warriors, just because we're not fully one species. They hate Lotor. They hate Ezor. They hate Acxa, Zethrid, _and_ Narti. But most of all, as part of my blood is part of their race, they hate _me_. I'm more than happy to leave Mierome behind, until every pureblood Miero is ready to accept hybrids as something besides enemies of the planet."

        Allura frowned. "I see. You and the other Warriors have been through far more pain than any of you deserve... Still, the sentience of the Serpents -- particularly without Altean alchemy -- amazes me. How are they even that way?"

        "We never figured out why that was. Most of us believed it had something to do with the energy from the comet they were built from. I confess, I've had a few curiosities concerning the Lions. I knew enough from the Druids that Zarkon once piloted the Black Lion. But what about the other original Paladins? What were they like?"

        Allura smiled in nostalgia. "Well, the original Blue Paladin was Blaytz: a kind man who was very flirtatious and rather infuriating at times, but could calm even the most troubled souls. The Yellow Paladin was Gyrgan: a 'big brother' among the others who never turned down food unless he was distraught. The Green Paladin was Trigel: always so brave and protective of her teammates despite how much smaller she was compared to the others. And finally, the Red Paladin was my father, King Alfor: so reckless in combat, but so warm-hearted and loyal at the same time."

        "They sound quite similar to the current Paladins," Ayiko mused, "along with the generals and me, to an extent. Ezor's playful and humorous by nature, and could easily get through to even the most closed-off hybrids. Zethrid is seen as a protective big sister to us, despite how she tries to hide it. Acxa never lets her size and lack of a special feature degrade her in battle. I've always tended to become aggressive or reckless, but that was mostly out of fear."

        "Lotor told me of your fear-aggressive tendencies. I've wondered what the generals were like after we battled them at a Galra base. The one called Zethrid even considered me the first worthy opponent she faced in a while."

        Ayiko chuckled. "She was actually talking about me like she respected me, then. I'm surprised she didn't actually say my name."

        Allura's eyes grew curious. "She was talking about you? How so?"

        "It was back when I was on Lotor's cruiser. I was in the training deck trying to perfect a few distance techniques with my tendrils when Zehrid decided to challenge me in hand-to-hand. Before then, she always called me the strangest names that I'm sure were directed at how I walked. Unfortunately, she didn't consider that a Miero can land quite an axe kick. I ended up winning the match because of that, combined with my tendrils."

        Allura laughed. "I'm sure that was the last time she called you names. I'm almost curious about what she called you before you showed your power to her."

        "If your curiosity wins you over, ask her yourself next time you see her," Ayiko replied as they both smiled at each other.

* * *

         _Out of all the Serpents we could've had the Black Lion bunked with, why did it have to be the cobra?_  Keith scolded himself when he realized the situation he and Krolia were in. They were stuck, alone, in a cargo ship with the terrifyingly long Cerise Serpent. And Lotor.

         _"I can't say I blame you if you're nervous about the situation, but I assure you no harm will come to you."_ Speak of the devil. _"Come out, so we can talk."_

        "Not like we have much else to do here," Krolia commented. "Just to be safe, we'll keep our knives on us."

        Keith nodded gratefully as the two left the Black Lion. They saw Lotor talking to one of the crew members, his helmet cradled under his arm. They looked at each other and shrugged, sitting on the Black Lion's paw to wait.

        "Emperor, may I ask if these new ships are of Altean origin like the Lions?" the soldier asked.

        "They are Mieran, actually," Lotor replied. "Quite admirable spacecrafts, I must say. Now then, report back to Torokan, and have him tell us when we reach the Main Base."

        "Vrepit Sa," the soldier saluted and hurried off. Once out of earshot, Lotor walked to the mother/son duo, his stately expression shifting to a more casual one.

        "I'm impressed that you can handle ruling the Empire so well," Krolia mused. "You'd think that hardly anyone would be willing to work with you."

        "I'm glad you've noticed," Lotor replied. "I've come to believe that loyalty and friendship are far more effective for leadership than fear and oppression. I'm sure you heard of my plan to join with the Blade of Marmora?"

        "Yes," Keith nodded. "Uh, Acxa told me that Ayiko knew about it. But why would you want to ally with a bunch of traitors to your empire?"

        Lotor sighed. "They were traitors to my _father's_  empire. But I've come to know that many of the empire soldiers have family members and relatives in the Blade of Marmora. Both that and adopting your comrades into my ranks will prove a helpful benefit to both side. If we're going to defeat the witch and her Druids, we will need help from any alliances we can attain."

        "Let's hope Kolivan is willing to be on the same page," Krolia remarked. "He doesn't allow members of the Galra Empire to come too close to the main base, especially the newly-crowned emperor himself."

        Lotor chuckled. "I've come to expect and take in stride such feedback from those who don't realize I'm no longer an enemy. When the time comes, I assure you I will be ready to calm any concerns your fellow Blades may have of joining the empire."

        "As long as you don't turn and stab us in the back, we'll get along without a hitch," Keith replied.

        "Emperor's honor," the Altean Galra promised. "Now I've come to hear about a Druid project called Operation Kuron. Assuming the stages of this project, I'd say the first stage was to find a Champion in the arena. Then, they would use their DNA to form clones. At the right moment, they would allow the most successful clone to escape and reach Team Voltron. Using the clone, the witch could spy on us through its eyes and attempt to tear the Paladins apart from within. If that were to fail, it would lure all the Paladins away and bring all available information concerning Altea to the Druids."

        "We might as well call that clone after the operation it was made for," Keith suggested. "I'll save the name 'Shiro' for the real one, thanks."

        The Galra emperor smiled in amusement. "Naturally. However, it isn't just 'Kuron' that will be a problem, but also Sendak. I hear you had to fight him as the Red Paladin, halfling. However, his robotic limb has been upgraded from being among the Druids, if his appearance at the Kral Zera was any indication. I fear he will soon become something you have dubbed a 'Robeast,' like my father and several other creatures you had to face."

        "Lovely," Krolia cringed. "I hope we're going to talk about this more with everyone else at the Main Base."

        "Indeed we shall," Lotor agreed.

         _"Emperor Lotor, we are approaching the Central Command System now,"_  the voice from before reported over the speakers. _"We are preparing the fleet to dock. All pilots of the collected ships are to return to their respective ships to transfer to the battleship hangar."_

        "What timing," Lotor mused before beginning to go into Cerise. "You should go into the Black Lion. The battleship hangar was originally built to store the Lions, but there will be plenty of space to keep the Serpents there as well."

        "Fine by us," Krolia replied as she and Keith went back into the Black Lion.


	11. Ten

        It wasn't long before all the animalesque ships were brought into the Central Command System. A pair of Galra soldiers came up to greet Lance, Pidge, and Hunk, who recognized the soldiers from something that must've happened before.

        "We ended up making friends with these two while we had the 'fun sentry' around," Pidge explained to Ezor and Acxa. "I managed to finetune the program that was used to reprogram it, so it should be a lot more stable this time around."

        "You managed to reprogram a sentry to have fun?" Ezor asked. "That sounds awesome! Let's give it a shot! And while we're at it..." She glanced in the direction of Ayiko and Lotor while they weren't looking.

        "I'm all for it," Pidge grinned. "Come on, Acxa. Time to watch the master on a free day."

        "Wonder what they're all up to," Zethrid remarked as they all headed off.

        "Probably something similar to what they did last time," Allura deadpanned. "As long as they don't cause any trouble for the soldiers -- or launch another Robeast coffin -- I won't have a reason to scold them later."

        Lotor had a look of stifling a laugh, further confusing Krolia and the Galra hybrids.

        "O...kay," Keith said slowly. "Uh, is there a training deck somewhere on this thing? If you don't mind..." he trailed off as Krolia nodded in agreement.

        "Of course. Zethrid can bring you there," Lotor replied. "In the meantime, -- Ayiko, Allura -- we have much to discuss concerning the Druids."

        "Nice!" Zethrid exclaimed with a toothy grin. "I'm all for a good sparring match."

* * *

        Ayiko walked cautiously into the Druids' labs. She  _found herself_ _being carried by their magic, helpless to fight back or use her tendrils. The familiar sensation of being near large quantities of Quintessence and Decessence sent her head reeling. Voices screamed in pain all around her, and it wasn't long before her own voice pierced the twisted chorus. The sight of the metallic wedges on her gray, bloodstained wrists..._

        A pair of careful hands were gently laid on her arms. "Ayiko, it's alright."

        The flood of memories vanished as Lotor came into focus in front of her, his expression worried. Allura was standing above them, also looking worried, and even scared. She realized she was kneeling on the floor, her hands pressed against her head. Not only that, but Lotor was kneeling on the floor in front of her, holding her in his arms.

        "I knew you've been here before, but I never knew it was this horrible for you," Lotor said softly. "Would you rather have Allura and me look through the labs alone?"

        Ayiko shook her head before the two stood up. "No. It was only a bad memory. I can manage. Besides, I sense something in this place you can't; something from Mierome."

        Allura's eyes widened. "How can you sense something we cannot?"

        Ayiko didn't answer, walking down one of the halls. She ignored the screams in her memory and the buzzing in her head. When she stopped, it was in front of a long hall, filled with various different containers. Most of them were filled with swirling, dark blue liquid, each with glowing purple veins within. Others had samples of glowing soil. The remaining ones held various different reptiles. About half of them were actually _from_ Mierome, while the others were of similar species.

        "By all the galaxies..." breathed Lotor as he and Allura caught up to the speedy Miero hybrid. "How did we miss all  _this?_ "

        "Their energy is undetectable to most species," Ayiko answered. "The reason they're all reptiles is most likely because reptiles have the highest energy signatures."

        "All these poor, innocent creatures," Allura remarked, walking up to one of the small lizards in a small terrarium. "This one even looks familiar."

        Ayiko looked as the tiny creature gazed at the two, showing the slate blue rings around its eyes. "A Mieromean kotega lizard. Usually very amiable creatures, unless they're openly exposed to large amounts of Quintessence."

        Allura hummed, tapping the glass softly. The kotega lizard tilted its head, flicking its black tongue at the Altean.

        Ayiko's eyes traveled to the jar of liquid Lotor was inspecting not far away. His eyes narrowed at the shifting, glowing veins in the liquid as he put his hand on it to pick it up. His hand jerked back as he hissed in pain, like he just touched red-hot metal.

        The Miero hybrid took a quick step to him as he gripped his hand. She inspected the dark burns on his hand where the liquid burned through the glove, giving the offending container an angry glance.

        "Only shallow burns," she murmured. "That container definitely isn't filled with Quintessence, or it wouldn't have reacted that way." She reached a lock of tendrils to the jar and, to the surprise of the others, harmlessly picked up the container to inspect it. "Definitely not Quintessence," she repeated under her breath. "And I dare say a drop was right where you grabbed it, Lotor."

        "If it isn't Quintessence, than what is it?" Allura asked, joining the hybrids.

        Ayiko's pupils narrowed. "An energy exclusive only to antimatter planets and species," Ayiko began. "Much rarer and harder to detect than Quintessence, but has the ability of self-replication. When both are refined, direct contact between the two has explosive results. However, species that are based with this substance are rendered immune to Quintessence-draining techniques."

        "Does it even have a name?" Lotor inquired.

        Ayiko nodded once. " _Wh_ _en the dark ones emerge from the blaze, -- their souls like a shadowy haze -- those born of the light meet their doom, and the creatures of dark are immune._ " She held the container up to them both, cradling it in her tendrils and over her hands. "This is the energy upon which Mierome and its inhabitants are based, and the energy within the ore that made the Serpents. The antimatter counterpart to the energy you and nearly all other species in the known universe are based upon: Decessence."

        "Decessence," Lotor echoed. The Miero hybrid could see it in his eyes; he was putting all the pieces together. "The reason why you and the Serpents were practically unaffected by the Druids' magic. And I dare say the dark creatures that Zarkon, Alfor, and the other original Paladins had to fight are linked to such a substance."

        "Coran would likely agree with you," Allura remarked. "The color of this Decessence does appear to be the same as those of the creatures." 

        The indigo liquid leaked from the bottom of the container and fell onto Ayiko's mechanized hands. Her eyes slit from the sudden charge of the refined Decessence as the mechanisms began to crack. The grip of her tendrils began crushing the container, causing more of the liquid to leak out and slip inside to her wrists.

        "Ayiko!" Lotor cried as the Miero hybrid crumpled to the floor in pain. The Decessence spilled from the breaking container onto the floor. Fragments of the mechanisms began to fall off her wrists almost like a shell, showing something inside flushing violet. She let out a single cry of pain, and the mechanisms shattered.

        Crouched over the pool of liquid Decessence on the floor, Ayiko panted with exhaustion. Her tendrils were wet with the substance. Slowly, the indigo liquid began to absorb into the Miero hybrid's body. Lotor and Allura knelt in front of her, ready to help her to her feet when she was ready.

        Once Ayiko had caught her breath, she managed to get her arm around Lotor's shoulders and stand up. Her tendrils, braced on the floor, were still unsteady. The liquid energy seemed to have completely dried out, no longer dripping off her tendrils. She winced as Lotor gently took her wrist, further worrying him and Allura.

        "It's alright," she said in a strained voice. "Still hurts a little."

        Allura looked down at Ayiko's other hand, eyes widening. "Lotor, you might want to see this." She gingerly took the Miero's other wrist and lifted it for the Galra emperor to see. He gasped at the sight.

        The wrists were partially caked with gray blood, and cut into from the shrapnel of the metal prosthetics. Where the mechanisms once were, there were now real hands. Familiar, flexible, wedge-like appendages with a sharp crescent along the edges. Aside from the new hands, the white gradient to Ayiko's skin was completely gone. Her eyes seemed to be glowing a little brighter than before, despite how tired she must've been.

        "We'll talk later," he said finally. "In the meantime, it would be in our best interest to go to the infirmary. We can discuss things with the others there."

        "I'll go tell the others," Allura volunteered. "Given what happened last time we were here, I'm guessing everyone will be grateful we'll be meeting there."

* * *

        Acxa watched as Ezor taught the Paladins and newly reprogrammed sentry how to play her 'game.' They were using shards of scrap metal from some old blasters as ammo to throw at the normal sentries. Each of the players hid behind a cargo box, waiting for a target to come by. Acxa wasn't interested, but decided to stay with Ezor while they played.

        "Okay, first you have to wait for one of them to come down the hall," Ezor began over the comms. "Try to hit them when they're as far away as you can hit them. Whoever gets the best reaction from the farthest distance wins."

         _"Sounds easy enough,"_  she heard Pidge reply. _"This is gonna be good."_

         _"I can see how it helps your target practice, Ezor,"_  Lance added. _"I wonder how the sentries will react to being hit by something they can't see."_

        _[Here comes some of them now,]_  the sentry reported. _[Let's do this.]_

        The next half-varga or so was spent throwing scrap metal at the patrolling sentries. The reprogrammed sentry, Pidge, and Ezor seemed to be the top three so far. Hunk missed almost every shot so far. Lance didn't have much luck with throwing the scraps at the robots either. But after he figured out how to make a slingshot, things got significantly easier for him. Most of the reactions they got from the sentries were a miniature stall and the occasional bout of smoke.

        When Allura came down the corridor, the game came to a screeching halt. Lance came out of his hiding place upon seeing the princess' worried expression.

        "What is it, Allura?" he asked as the others came out soon after.

        Allura took a deep breath. "Something happened while Lotor, Ayiko, and I were in the Druids' lair. We're having everyone meet in the infirmary to... talk about it."

        Lance's expression turned serious. "You got it. Pidge?"

        "Right. Hunk and I will go change back the sentry's programming," the Green Paladin affirmed. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

        Allura nodded gratefully. "Thank you. There is much to discuss, and the last thing we need is a relapse of last time."

* * *

        Keith, Krolia, and Zethrid got to the infirmary not long after Lotor and Ayiko did. They came in to tend to the minor injuries they got while in the training deck. Zethrid was a lot stronger than the mother and son expected.

        Even so, they were all quite surprised to see Ayiko and the Galra emperor sitting together on a berth.

        Lotor only had a few bandages on one hand with a singed, torn glove on the side. Ayiko had both of her wrists wrapped up with her gauntlets near Lotor's glove, and ash gray blood painted the bandages. Lotor was just finishing the bandages on her right wrist, holding her hand. Only for Ayiko, instead of the metallic wedges Keith saw before, there were actual, flesh-and-blood _hands_.

        "Wait, didn't she have metal prosthetics before?" Krolia asked.

        Lotor looked up at the entering trio. "Yes. But that was before we stumbled across something in the labs."

        "There was a hidden hall in the Druids' lair," Ayiko explained, "filled with containers holding refined Decessence and Decessence-based creatures. When the liquid got on my hands, this happened. That's the power of Dessence and its capability of self-replication."

        "Unfortunately it does the exact opposite to those based with Quintessence," Lotor added grimly, lifting his bandaged hand. "One of the containers leaked and burned my hand."

        "Yikes," Zethrid cringed. "Those creeps should learn to fix those things when they leak. It's annoying enough when anything gets on the floor. Liquid that can burn your hand is only worse unless you're the same species as Tippy Toes over -- Ow!" she yelped as Ayiko snapped a tendril over her head, glaring at the Citrine Warrior.

        Allura laughed as she and the others came in. "Is that one of the names she used to call you before, Ayiko?"

        "Yes," the Miero replied, sounding tired but irritated.

        "And even now she's just asking for another axe kick," Ezor grinned, earning herself a tendril to the appendage on her head. " _Ow._ Okay, I get it. Sheesh, no need to be so mean about it."

        "We might as well get back to the real reason we're all here," Allura broke in. "The Galra Empire may be our ally, but the Castle of Lions and Coran are now in the hands of the most inhumane people in Zarkon's reign."

        "And they've been experimenting on more than just Quintessence," Lotor added. "They've also been using creatures of Decessence, its rarer and more powerful antimatter counterpart."

        "An antimatter counterpart to Quintessence?" Pidge asked. "Are they so desperate for energy that they'd use something that deadly?"

        "Hardly," Ayiko sneered. "The Druids only wanted it for research. And their attempts at speaking Mieran were more broken than the metal chunks they tried to replace my hands with. However, the fact that they even know Mieran words is quite concerning."

        "We can figure that one out after we get back the castle," Keith spoke up. "And when we get it back and defeat Kuron, Haggar, and the Druids, we'll find the real Shiro."

        "May I ask  _how?_ " Hunk inquired. "In case you haven't fought those creeps before, those Druids are  _dangerous_. They've been able to literally _suck the life out_ of _any_  planet they target. They even tried to blow Naxzela up in our faces! And after the whole thing on Olkarion, I think we've all felt the power of their draining attack, at least once."

        "We're all quite aware of the threat that Haggar and the Druids pose," Acxa agreed.

        "But if I heard right, Ayiko and the Serpents _can't_ be affected by most of the stuff they'd do," Zethrid pointed out. "She was the first one to wake up even after they used all their combined power on us, and the Serpents were still responsive. It barely left a scratch; just like plenty of other times in the past. And without the weird metal hands, there's nothing they can use to control her, either."

        "There are still the mental scars she still suffers from," Allura countered. "She collapsed on the floor for nearly 25 dobashes when she, Lotor, and I first went into the labs. She was whimpering, muttering things we couldn't hear, and she shuddered in Lotor's grasp and in such a style... It's terrifying to think what they could've done to her."

        Ayiko looked up at the Altean princess, the look in her eyes confused. "I was seeing fragments of my memories from the phoebs I spent in their labs. What was I doing?"

        Pidge's eyes widened before she tapped the wrist of her gauntlet. "Hang on a sec. I can get to the security feed and take a look at it." A blue screen appeared, where she quickly began working until she found a security feed from the labs. "Here it is."

        Pidge showed the feed from when Allura and the Galra hybrids had entered the Druids' lair. Ayiko had barely gotten three steps fully into it when she suddenly tensed for a dobash, falling to the floor in the next tick with her tendrils convulsing. Allura and Lotor rushed over to her, calling her name. When she didn't respond, the Galra emperor gathered her in his arms, the Miero hybrid pressing her hands against her head. The feed jumped to 24 dobashes later when Ayiko finally "awoke."

        Ayiko and the others -- except Allura and Lotor -- were shocked, and for good reason. "I... I didn't know I could react that way," she breathed. "No wonder you looked so worried... and so frightened."

        "And that's exactly why we have to get Coran and the castle back as soon as possible," Pidge asserted. "Before he ends up suffering as much as you, Shiro, and my family did."


	12. Eleven

        After spending the next few vargas coming up with a plan, everyone soon realized how late it was getting. Lance and Ezor had nodded off, resting against the wall -- and each other -- on the floor. Pidge was rubbing her eyes under her glasses from the lack of sleep. True to form, Hunk was starting to yawn a lot, too.

        "We'll have to pick up where we left off tomorrow," Allura suggested. "After a good night's rest, it'll be easier to plan out our attack on the Druids."

        "Good idea," Hunk agreed as he got Lance onto his back. "All things considered, it's been a pretty long couple of days."

        "Agreed," Acxa nodded after getting Ezor's arm around her shoulders.

        "I'll have a sentry bring you to the guest barracks," Lotor notified, using his holographic screen to hail one of the robots over. "According to the time, most of the soldiers have turned in for the night already."

        "And speaking of, we'll make sure everyone gets to a proper bed," Krolia assured.

        "And some proper rest," her son added, leading Pidge away with his hands on her shoulders. "That especially means you, Pidge."

        "You're one to talk, for someone who stays up late training," grumbled the Green Paladin, but didn't fight back as they left.

* * *

        By the time it was lights-out, everyone was asleep; except Ayiko.

        The Miero hybrid found it hard to get over the events of the day. And it wasn't just from Ezor and Zethrid snoring, though she could hear them on the other side of the barracks. She sat in her cot wearing only her undersuit, for which the fabric went up to her wrists and over her feet. She stared at her regrown hands as if they'd be gone again if she looked away. The mauve scar tissue on her wrists showed like nebulae from under the white bandages and navy blue sleeves. No light was in the barracks save for the light from her own eyes.

        She couldn't help but feel something else about her was different.

        She tried concentrating on her Decessence, trying to make any sort of thing happen. _Anything_ that would tell her she could  _do_  something with the Decessence she absorbed back in the labs, besides regrowing her dismembered hands.

        She gave a low growl of frustration when nothing happened with her hands. She crossed her arms with a sigh before she felt something on her forehead; and it wasn't the tendrils she had in front of her face. She looked to the somewhat reflective surface of the wall, only seeing a vague image of something glowing under her fringe.

        _Where did that come from? Was that from absorbing the Decessence? I should find a more reflective surface to see it properly. Perhaps I can use my gauntlet's mirror function._

        With that, Ayiko quietly got out of her cot and left the barracks, trying her best not to make a sound. She glanced behind her to make sure no one woke up. Once she was sure that everyone else was still asleep, she padded away into the dimly-lit hallway. She went through the corridors to the nearby armory, where the armor of the Paladins and Warriors were hung. Ayiko took a deep breath before going up to the capsule holding her unmistakable colors.

        After flicking the holo-chip with a tendril, Ayiko made the screen appear from her gauntlet. The screen morphed into a mirror, letting Ayiko see her face. Aside from the glow breaking through her fringe, she only saw the scar from that Trueblood leader forcing a prisoner helmet onto her head without removing the bit first ( _At least it got my cheek instead of my eye_ ) and her eyes glowing a little brighter than normal.

        Ayiko slowly got the tendrils in front of her face to part themselves, exposing what was on her forehead. It was a sort of [mark](https://i.quotev.com/img/q/u/18/5/17/ijspaco46f.jpg), only a few shades more blue than her own skin. It was an eerily familiar symbol, that she thought she had seen before. Unfortunately, there was no exact memory of her seeing it.

        She lightly traced the symbol with the edge of her hand, feeling the familiar tingling sensation. The last time she felt that sensation was when the refined Decessence got on her. What happened afterward was instinctive, but she knew she felt the sensation of the charge of Decessence the whole time. There was no forgetting the sudden electric jolt that made her tendrils constrict.

        "Is something wrong, Ayiko?" An all-too-familiar voice threw the Miero hybrid's concentration, causing her fringe to fall back in place and the mark to stop glowing. Sure enough, as she turned around, Lotor was at the door to the armory, his glinting eyes bright with intrigue.

        "It's this symbol," she explained quietly, parting her fringe again. "I don't recall having it before in my life. But it's almost... familiar." The mark started glowing again as the fork in her fringe divided.

        Lotor's eyes widened as he stepped closer, cupping her cheek to further inspect the mark. "It glows the same color as the refined Decessence in the labs. I wouldn't be surprised if it occurred because of the incident in the labs earlier."

        "I have no doubt about that. But I've seen the aftereffects of refined Decessence getting on a Miero, and _this_ isn't one of them. Healing injuries or regrowing dismembered limbs? Possible. A painful or electric sensation upon contact? Definite. But there was never a case in which there was a glowing mark of any kind. For that matter, neither has there been a case of the eyes glowing brighter than normal."

        Lotor hummed, lowering his hand. "I doubt there has been any case involving a hybrid Miero being the victim, either. Perhaps there is more information concerning this in the Druids' lair, but... Are you willing to go back in there even after what happened?" The worry in his eyes told the Miero hybrid that he didn't just mean the shattered Decessence container.

        Ayiko nodded firmly, her fringe falling into place and the mark going dim. "Anything to find out what the mark means. I'll do my best to restrain the memories."

* * *

        When the two went back to the Druids' lair, Ayiko only needed to shake off the taunting memories a few times. Her mark started glowing again without her trying when they reached the Decessence area. The mess of broken glass from earlier that day had already been cleaned up, to the relief of the pair. Most of the animals in that hall were asleep, even the kotega lizard Allura had found.

        Ayiko concentrated on finding what was causing the mark to react. She could sense something nearby, coming from behind a row of terrariums and containers of refined Decessence. She went to the shelf it was coming from, met with the face of a sort of snake. The ghostly white reptile seemed to be the only creature in the corridor that was still awake, looking curiously at her with glossy, near black eyes. Its thick body was coiled up in the terrarium with its head resting above the scaly coils.

        And there was something behind its terrarium.

        Ayiko carefully moved the container to the side with her tendrils, being careful not to startle the creature. It only flicked a pale pink tongue at the midnight-colored tendrils, but was otherwise calm about it. Behind the creature was a familiar-looking black rod.

        "Lotor, look at this," she called over the Altean hybrid, who was sifting through the lower shelves a ways down the hall.

        Lotor stood up and walked over as Ayiko picked up the rod with a lock of tendrils. "Isn't that one of those holo-scrolls you said are used by the Miero?"

        "Yes, exactly." With a flick of a tendril at the button on the end, the dark gray holographic screen rolled out as Lotor watched over her shoulder. "That's strange. It's written in Galran glyphs instead of Mieran runes... Wait a tick. These are all different Mieromean legends that were stolen from the royal libraries not long after I was born. Right here is one on the five intangible aspects: soul, heart, mind, body, and essence." She pointed to it with her hand, where [the same mark she had was alongside four others](https://i.quotev.com/img/q/u/18/5/19/ssf56jyy6v.jpg).

        "Over 20 deca-phoebs ago," Lotor growled. "And I recognize the symbol for the Royalsoul cult, which you said is closest to the palace on your home-planet. How did the witch and the Druids get their hands on this?"

        "I can guess," Ayiko began, flipping to the end of the holo-scroll, seeing an ending message in Mieran runes. "I knew it. It says, _'All 13 Mieromean legends you asked for. Will throw in any more half-breeds that we and other cults find, as promised. Trueblood base in Xanthros will be central command.'_ "

        "The cults have been _working_ with the Druids," Lotor concluded, his voice a livid hiss as his hand gripped her shoulder.

        "Exactly," Ayiko agreed, eyes narrowed with restrained fury. "That's how the Druids learned how to speak Mieran. And why the cult members preferred to just hurt me rather than kill me. However, that doesn't explain what happened the day you first rescued me."

        "Perhaps they were trying to cover up the fact that you weren't captured by the Druids by the time I came along. If Ezor didn't see you being taken to the crater, we would've never been able to save you and the Druids would've taken you away. Which means Haggar using Narti to send you to them was her back-up plan."

        "We'll definitely have to bring this up with the others in the morning," Ayiko concurred as the two began to leave the labs. "But until then, let's go get our rest. We wouldn't want to end up like the Yellow Paladin in the morning, would we?"

        Lotor gave a chuckle as the already dim lights in the Druids' lair turned off when they left. "No, we would not."

* * *

        The next morning, everyone met up in the Grand Hall after breakfast (which Hunk had managed to spice up quite nicely). Krolia and Keith went to contact the Blade of Marmora, and said that Kolivan would be coming up with a new arrival in a few vargas.

        Pidge called out Zethrid and Ezor's snoring while they ate, to their almost immediate denial and everyone else's laughter. However, Acxa and Ayiko both pointed it out to be true, along with Krolia, much to the embarrassment of the two.

        "Narti never told us we snore," Ezor grumbled on the way to the Grand Hall.

        Lance was still laughing about the matter. "Last I checked, you said that friend of yours couldn't talk, period, so the jury's out on that one."

        "Now, last night, Ayiko and I made an interesting find in the Druids' lair," Lotor began once at the Grand Hall. "I will let her have the honor of explaining."

        Ayiko nodded, standing next to him, and summoned the black rod to her tendrils' grasp. "This is a holo-scroll: a device used by the Miero race to store information. It contains thirteen stolen Mieromean legends that were translated into Galran glyphs, along with a message from the Royalsoul cult." She flicked the button to make the screen appear. "It contains a dangerous amount of Mierome's lore that could possibly be true, and the ending message speaks of the Miero cults being in alliance with the Druids."

        "That alliance in itself sounds dangerous," Allura commented. "If the Druids need any sort of help from the Miero and their extensive abilities... it would not be a clean fight, to say the least."

        "My point exactly," Ayiko agreed. "And one of these legends is of particular interest, as Lotor and I believe it is connected to the Serpents in some way." She went to the article with the [five symbols](https://i.quotev.com/img/q/u/18/5/19/ssf56jyy6v.jpg). "In a right-direction rotation, the symbols are for essence, heart, body, mind, and soul. Five immaterial aspects, five Serpents, five Warriors, each a Champion of their respective aspect. It should be easy to see which one goes with whom."

        "It is indeed simple," Acxa remarked. "Lotor is essence, you are soul, I am mind, Zethrid is body, and Ezor is heart. I'm guessing that with each concept comes a different criteria for the Warrior."

        Ayiko nodded. "That would be my guess. The legend speaks of five reptiles fending off evil beasts that tried to destroy them. The leader, Champion of Essence, was mighty at heart and of sound judgement, who valued loyalty and resourcefulness over tyranny and oppression. The other four followed him nearly without question. The right hand, Champion of Soul, held unbreakable allegiance to the leader, and showed no vice to betrayal. Their hidden strengths became clear in battle, in sharp skills and honed intuition."

        Ezor nodded in understanding, reading the next part. "The Champion of Heart was a kind soul, who didn't just see their comrades merely as such, but as true friends, even family. They were the glue that held together the bond between the five, though they never realized it on their own."

        "The Champion of Mind was wise beyond their years," Acxa continued. "They used tactics and strategies in battle to overcome their disadvantages. Some say the Champion of Mind had planned out the way to defeat the beasts. And when they realized their true power, it was like deadly venom from hidden fangs."

        "The Champion of Body was the strongest physical fighter of the group," Allura read. "They crushed their foe with almost ruthless power. They were a wall between their friends and the enemy. However, they didn't know that they hid their own kindness behind a wall of thorns."

        "All these excerpts show the defining qualities of each Warrior," Lotor remarked. "It has such similarities... I doubt I'm the only one who considers such similarities as frightening."

        "You're not the only one," Ezor shuddered. "The Champion of Heart part literally sounds like me; like, not even kidding."

        "We know," Ayiko replied. "They sound like all of us. However, it might help us with our connections to the Serpents. Perhaps there are also signature weapons that each individual Serpent has. And there may be more than one for each. After all, I first unleashed Cyan's toxic plasma cannon on Olkarion."

        "Like how each Lion has two special weapons when on their own," Pidge concurred.

        "Something similar did happen with the original Paladins ten thousand years ago," Allura recalled. "After the two hidden weapons of a Lion were unleashed in battle, the Bayard for that Lion was released. Perhaps when all of you are in the heat of battle, you'll have a sort of traditional weapon of your own."

        Zethrid grinned. "I can hardly wait."

        Krolia smiled in amusement. "Now that that's settled, Keith and I had better head to the ship bay and see if Kolivan has arrived yet. If Lotor wants to ally with the Blade of Marmora, it'll have to go past him first."

        "There is no need, Krolia," a new male voice spoke. Everyone turned to the entrance to see two Galra men in hooded, black uniforms just like what Keith was wearing when he and Krolia came to the castle with the Serpents. One was still masked, but the other only had his hood up, partially showing his face.

        "You must be the superior to this young halfling and his mother," Lotor assumed as the group spread out, Ayiko stepping up to his right side. "You needn't be wary, for no harm will come to you or your soldiers."

        "That I am aware of," the man replied stiffly. "I am Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora. I remain skeptical that you would wish to ally with our ranks. Even though you yourself have your half-Galra generals."

        "My fellow Warriors would mean no trouble to you, Kolivan," Lotor defended them in his regal tone. "And neither would any of my soldiers. As a matter of fact, many of my soldiers have family members hidden in your ranks. If we form an alliance, it could further encourage soldiers from other factions to swear allegiance to me."

        Kolivan's companion looked over at the hybrid standing alongside the emperor. He stiffened when something flicked behind her. Her glowing, crystal blue eyes shifted towards him, narrow and cold. She made a strange hissing sound, tendrils slowly lifting like spears ready to fire. Lotor seemed to notice her behavior.

        "Peace, Ayiko," he murmured, laying an arm around her shoulders. He looked back to the two Blades staring him down. "I already have an example of family members in different organizations. Correct, Krolia?"

        "Yes," the Galra woman nodded before bringing her two children to her. "Kolivan, I would like you to meet my daughter, Acxa. She's Keith's older half-sister, and a general in the new Galra Empire."

        Kolivan's face bore no emotion. "The resemblance is easy to see. As for that Miero girl you're with..."

        Ayiko turned her gaze to the Blade of Marmora leader, eyes like blue fire.

        "She appears to pose a threat," Kolivan continued, glaring at the Miero hybrid. "Both to me and the Blade of Marmora."

        "So you know Ayiko's species," Lotor mused. "However, you needn't be wary of her. She is half-Galra like myself, my generals, and the current Black Lion's Paladin. If you know her species, surely you must know of the infamous blood-purist cults of her home-planet. The Druids didn't treat her very well either, given how they abducted her."

        Kolivan's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I see." His hand came to rest against the handle of his knife, changing it into a sword as a precaution. His companion reached for something on his belt, and there was the click of a button being pressed.

        Out of nowhere, Ayiko's eyes widened as she let out a cry of pain.

        "Ayiko!" the Warriors cried as she crumpled to the ground, eyes squeezed shut in agony.

        "What's wrong, Ayiko?" Lotor asked. "What's happening?"

        "Make it stop," the Miero whimpered, her voice rising. "Make it stop... Make it stop!"

        "Kolivan, what's going on?" Keith demanded. "Is your little friend doing something to her?!"

        Kolivan said and did nothing, but his companion slowly pulled out his knife. The cry of an angry Druid rang from the shorter Blade as he threw the knife at the Miero hybrid's head.

        Keith's eyes widened. He knew the cry of a Druid when he heard it. Several pieces clicked together. He found himself pushing everyone out of the way of the flying knife.

         _ **Clang!**_

        The knife was stopped in its flight, the branded hilt caught on Ayiko's wrist. The blue mark on Ayiko's forehead vanished, its energy running down her arm and to the blade. The luxite morphed and curled around her wrist, the Marmora symbol changing to that of the Champion of Soul. The luxite stopped changing and showed itself as a sort of bracelet around her gauntlet, the symbol right at the center.

        Ayiko stood up, eyes closed. The soul symbol on the bracelet glowed faintly as a chain whip grew from the cuff. A mix between a growl and a hiss escaped her clenched jaw and bared fangs. She lowered into a battle stance, tendrils raised and legs ready to spring forward. She opened her eyes in the direction of Kolivan's companion.

        The pupils were dilated.


	13. Twelve

        Kolivan was staring at the Miero hybrid, his eyes failing to mask his shock. A Marmora knife awakening to a blood relative of its original wielder was rare enough, in the case of Keith and Krolia. But a knife permanently changing on contact, and with a half-breed?! That just didn't happen by chance! However, there wasn't any time to question the matter. As soon as Ayiko's dilated eyes locked onto his companion, she sprang toward him.

        "You need to get out of her way!" Lotor called out to the Blade of Marmora leader. "She can't see clearly when her eyes are like that!"

        Kolivan barely managed to get out of the swift hybrid's way when her tendrils and chain whip surged out at the masked Blade. He'd heard tales of Miero being unnaturally fast and how they can fight on instincts, but he'd never seen either of which happen in person.

        Ayiko's targeted opponent already had out his second blade. A black gladius, tied with dark blue tendrils and chains of alternating black metal and blue energy. Ayiko lashed her opponent's mask with tendrils, trying to jump backward and yank the sword from his grip. She staggered at a chop to her side, and nearly crumpled at his elbow grinding into her collarbone.

        When Kolivan saw the strange device peeking out from under the new arrival's cloak, he understood what caused the Miero hybrid to start acting so strange.

        "Zerax! Why did you bring that sound emitter?!" he demanded. "You were not given permission to use such experimental technology."

        Zerax turned to Kolivan, his voice warped and seemingly mixed with another. "I do what is necessary to recapture prisoners. Prisoners 893-zeta-652 and 259-omega-328 must be returned to the High Priestess. All Blade of Marmora members shall be used to expand upon our--!" He was cut short when Ayiko's chain whip and tendrils pulled free, cutting the device in half. Between Ayiko going behind Zerax and delivering a swift kick with her heel to the back of his neck, he was pinned to the floor at her feet by her tendrils, unconscious.

        Ayiko's pupils hadn't retracted yet, but she stopped her ruthless charge. She stood above Zerax, panting and gripping her side with her free arm, her legs shaking from exhaustion. The chain whip retracted and turned back into the wrist cuff, and the tendrils retracted to sweep around her hips. Zerax's mask shorted out, revealing his face.

        Whatever was happening, it was clear Lotor and his generals knew more than Kolivan. The generals shook their heads at him as Lotor, quietly and carefully, approached the hybrid. Ayiko turned from the unconscious Blade and glared at the movement with her dilated eyes. Lotor slowly wrapped his fingers around her limp hand, gently pulling her against his chest. Ayiko's eyes fluttered closed for a bit as the pupils retracted, before she returned the embrace.

        The Paladins and other Warriors sighed in relief before the latter group went up to her. Ezor threw her arms around Ayiko's neck, burying her face in her shoulder. Acxa rubbed circles in the pink-skinned Warrior's back, smiling at Lotor and Ayiko. Zethrid went up to them and pulled them all into a group hug.

        "Holy quiznak, Ayiko!" Ezor cried into the Miero's shoulder. "You had us  _terrified_  back there! _What_ in the unknown universe  _happened?!_ "

        Ayiko smiled before the generals released her, Lotor holding her steady. "It's difficult to explain," she murmured, trying to recall. "First there was that click, and then I suddenly heard this... painful, piercing sound that made my head hurt. I could barely hear much through it besides distant voices until I heard a Druid's cry. When I felt some sort of movement, I put my hand up to defend myself when something caught on my wrist, but by then I believe my eyes had darkened."

        "Indeed they did," Lotor confirmed. "However, Kolivan, why did your... _companion_ say Ayiko's prisoner identification and that of another? And bring up the witch?"

        "Zerax was also an experiment of the Druids," Kolivan explained, leaning the Blade in question against the wall. "Haggar may have had one of the Druids implant a means of controlling him in his brain. Zerax was actually eager to meet Emperor Lotor and his generals. He believed that his hybrid daughter could be among you."

        "And I think I know which one," Krolia spoke up. "Look at his face. His skin color. Which one do you think he's most like?"

        Pidge looked at Zerax carefully. His skin color was the exact same light purple as Ayiko's complexion. His face, too, looked oddly similar. Even unconscious, the Galra man's facial expression looked largely untouched by emotion.

        "Wow, he really looks like Ayiko," Ezor voiced Pidge's thoughts.

        Pidge's eyes widened. "Or, it's more like Ayiko looks like  _him_."

        Ayiko's eyes widened as she staggered in Lotor's grasp, horror joining the pain and exhaustion in her eyes.

        "We should bring you to the infirmary," the emperor suggested. "Sentry, aid this soldier with his comrade."

        The Miero hybrid was still in a daze even as she was led along with the others.

        "They mean... With the... And he... And I... Oh, _quiznak_."

* * *

        "Looks like only a bruised rib and collarbone," Acxa told Ayiko, medical scanner in hand. "It seems the sound emitter was meant to only affect your brain as opposed to your ears. There's a bit of tendril strain, as well."

        "Most of Zerax's injuries seem to be mental," Krolia added. "Being possessed by a Druid is never a good experience, given what we've heard from former test subjects. However, he does have a pretty nasty concussion from that kick you gave him. At least said kick knocked this off the back of his head," she threw in, holding a small purple chip.

        "Haven't seen your full-strength Mieran axe kick in awhile," Ezor commented. "Those heel spurs must really be useful."

        Keith stopped. "Heel spurs? Never heard that Miero have those. Aren't they painful?"

        "Hardly," Ayiko replied, Lotor's arm around her on a berth. Her armor, for fear of causing further pain, had been removed, leaving her in her undersuit again. "All Miero have them, but most of the time they are hardly noticeable. We don't walk on them, so they never cause any sort of pain."

        "To think that the Druids would go to such lengths..." Kolivan growled, looking down at the unconscious Galra on another berth. "The sound emitter was meant to be expanded upon to be used against technology belonging to revolting factions. The Druids must've found out about it and used Zerax to take the experimental device."

        "So, you don't blame me about... what I did?" Ayiko asked hesitantly.

        Kolivan's gaze turned to the bright blue slits. "I do not. The emitter was set to a frequency clearly harmful to a Miero's brain."

        Lotor added, "And I dare say it was meant to activate your instincts to force you to attack. Neither of you were in control, and I'm sure you were terrified as much as you were in pain."

        Ayiko smiled thankfully at Lotor before looking down. "If he really is my father, I doubt he knows what happened to my mother. What happened to me. The fact that I had to live as a lone tendrié for so many deca-phoebs." She looked up at everyone's confused expressions. "Or in Galra terms, a lone kit."

        Keith and Acxa's eyes softened in empathy as Kolivan's eyes narrowed. "You were alone, for how long?" the Blade of Marmora leader demanded.

        The Miero hybrid slunk back, her tendrils flicking towards him. "My mother was killed when I was twelve deca-phoebs, and I met Lotor and the other generals at eighteen."

        Kolivan's eyes narrowed even more, causing Ayiko to tilt down her head with a hiss. Lotor leaned in front of the Miero hybrid protectively, pulling her closer with a glare.

        "Throttle black on the aggression, guys," Ezor said as she and Lance went between them.

        "No need to cause any more injuries already," the Red Paladin added. "Besides, from what I'm seeing here, Ayiko didn't have any more choice in the matter than either of her parents."

        Kolivan gave the Paladin and Warrior a look before reluctantly stepping away. Ayiko and Lotor had visibly relaxed as well.

        "Hey, what's this?" Pidge asked out of the blue. There was a small white parcel at the door. She slowly walked over to it, and a head popped out, pink tongue flicking at her. Hunk screamed and jumped back. "It... looks almost like a snake found on our home-planet."

        "The snake I saw in the Druids' labs," Ayiko recognized. "I wonder how it got out of its terrarium. ~~Come on over, little one."~~  The snake perked up at the Mieran words, slithering over to the hybrids' berth.

        "It... seems harmless," Lotor remarked hesitantly.

        Ayiko gently picked up the reptile with her tendrils, looking into its eyes. "That's what I thought. It's a laram snake from Mierome; female. About as big as they get, as well. The largest predator on Mierome. They aren't harmful, and make good companions and helpers with pests."

        Lotor hesitantly reached his free hand to the snake. The reptile flicked its tongue at it before the Galra emperor ran his fingertips down its head and back. He smiled in relief. "It's just like the Serpents."

        "I always wanted to have one," Ayiko admitted softly. "My mother promised to let me take care of one when I was thirteen deca-phoebs. But you know how that ended."

        A groan from Zerax turned everyone's attention to the stirring Blade, all going silent. "Ajhura?" he asked huskily. "Is that you? Where is our child?" He opened his eyes, golden sclarae and teal irises.

        "That's my mother's name," Ayiko breathed. "That means Krolia was right." She set the snake down and stood up when she suddenly winced in pain and sat back down.

        "Ayiko, you must rest," Lotor chided in worry. "You are still healing from your little skirmish."

        The Galra on the other berth sat up slowly at hearing the name. "Ayiko. Ajhura told me we had a daughter of that name. Where is Ajhura and my child?" His eyes widened when he looked at the Miero hybrid. "Is that... Is she...?"

        Ayiko met her father's eyes, her usually cold gaze withering slightly at his voice. "My mother has been nine deca-phoebs dead," she said in a clipped whisper. "But if we are correct, _I_ am your child."

        Zerax looked at the Miero hybrid in complete shock. ~~"No... Ajhura... The cults,"~~  he realized, speaking in perfect Mieran.  ~~"They must've done it. They hated even knowing that we had a child all those years ago."~~

        Ayiko nodded once, bringing the laram snake back into her arms.  ~~"It was Trueblood. A single lethal shot between the shoulders. I had to run away, and became a commander in the Miero royal guard while hiding my lineage. Until Emperor Lotor saved me from a few violent superiors, I... I didn't know what it was like to have a family."~~

        Zerax looked around at the Galra emperor and the other Warriors. "Thank you all, Emperor Lotor and friends, for being there for my daughter when I could not. Even if that time was short compared to her life of solitude."

        "The pleasure is ours. Your daughter is a loyal comrade, Zerax," Lotor replied cordially, his arm once more around her shoulders. "And a cherished friend."

        No one noticed the look between Lance, Pidge, and Ezor.

        "I'm glad you two found each other," Krolia told the father and daughter. "I know how it feels to be separated from your child, or children."

        Zerax nodded at the Galra woman. "While it does seem I have lost a knife, I'm glad it was passed to my daughter, even in a new form."

        Ayiko smiled slightly. "On Mierome, there is a mythical weapon similar to the Bayard that's worn on the wrist, called the Picar. It becomes the weapon the bearer is most suited with, and I believe that the Picar will become the traditional weapon of the Serpents' Warriors."

        "I wish there was time for you two to catch up," Allura spoke up. "However, we still have much to do. We still have several Galra factions in the universe that revolt against Lotor as the emperor. Not only that, but the Druids are clearly also quite active."

        "They made off with Coran and the Castle of Lions back on Olkarion," Keith added. "We have no idea what they want with either of them, but we're not sure we want to find out."

        "What we do know is that we have to get them back and defeat the Druids," Pidge chimed in. "They're probably off doing who-knows-what with either one, and they're using a Shiro clone we're calling Kuron. Not to mention one of the Druids made you and your daughter attack each other not too long ago."

        Zerax's eyes grew horrified. "Attack my own  _daughter_?... I don't remember any of that."

        "That would probably be because of this," Krolia stated, holding up the chip. "This was on you, controlling your mind. Ayiko managed to knock it off, and accidentally knock _you_ out."

        "Maybe we can use that chip to find the Druids," Hunk suggested. "It might still have a connection to the Druid who bugged you, and the system of the Druid fleet."

        "Hunk, you're a genius!" Pidge cheered, taking the chip. "We can trace its frequency signal back to the Druids' fleet to track it. That'll make finding Coran and the castle way easier! Come on, Acxa, time to hunt down this flock of bird masks!"

        Acxa nodded before leading the other tech experts to the main computer room.

        "It seems that they are getting along nicely," Lotor mused.

        "Given how we'll most likely have to work together against Haggar, that's a good thing," Allura commented. "It'll require perfect cooperation between the Warriors and the Paladins to defeat the Druids."

        "Kolivan, Zerax, my offer still stands for you," Lotor stated to the two Blades. "I bring all Blade of Marmora members into my ranks, and you can remain a unit of your own. Take whatever time you need to decide."

        "We will have our final decision for you in the next movement," Kolivan replied, helping Zerax to his feet. "In the meantime, it is time that we return to our base. If we accept your offer, we will come to you. Keith, Krolia, I advise you remain here for the time being. It is clear that Keith, as a Paladin, must remain to lead Voltron. Krolia, you will aid in building the connection between the respective groups your children are each a part of."

        "Yes sir," the mother and son said in unison as Kolivan and Zerax left.

        Lance and Ezor glanced at each other with a hint of mischief. "Hey, Allura. Ezor and I have a little idea we were talking over with Pidge and Hunk yesterday. Since they're busy with the only-one-in-Keith's-family-without-a-mullet right now, we're two people short. Mind helping us out?"

        Allura considered the idea. "Since there isn't exactly much else to do at the moment, I might as well."

        "Awesome!" Ezor cheered, slinging an arm around Allura's shoulders and leading her out. "Trust me, you're going to enjoy this surprise. Come on, Zethrid! We need someone on watch duty."

        "Keith and I'll go and help out the tech experts," Krolia notified. "Might as well keep watch so we're first to know."

        "As for you, Ayiko," Lotor turned to the Miero hybrid as the others left. "You've had a long day, and you're still hurt, and quite exhausted from last night. You should stay here and rest until you're well enough." He stood up and got a thin blanket for her.

        "Of course," Ayiko replied as she laid down on the berth, her arm supporting her head. The laram snake coiled up at the edge of the berth contentedly, watching Lotor pull the blanket over the Miero-Galra hybrid. He casually sat beside Ayiko, trailing his fingers through her smooth tendrils. The glow of her eyes dimmed as they drifted closed, her breathing starting to even out.

        Lotor chuckled at Ayiko's soft croon as she was asleep. "Rest well... my love."

* * *

        Allura gawked at Lance and Ezor's explanation. "You two believe that Ayiko and Lotor...  _love_  each other?"

        Ezor nodded. "We know so. Zethrid and I have seen the signs since long before you and your friends came around. Lance told me of you seeing the day they met with these weird thought-projector things you have in your castleship. That and their filmed duet should've made it blatantly obvious for you guys."

        "It does explain how Lotor's been acting ever since we got her distress signal," Lance pointed out. "Pidge and I had even talked to both of them while on their own, and we got a double confirmation to a double-sided crush."

        "It's like what I told Yellow back on the cargo ship," Zethrid added, "Ayiko got closer to Lotor in a deca-phoeb than the rest of us in our entire time with him."

        Ezor nodded in agreement. "Since those two like each other, we were planning this out with Pidge and Hunk while they were reprogramming that sentry yesterday."

        "And since they're off tracking down the Druids, you wish for me and Zethrid to fill in," Allura concurred. "I hope you're aware that a bond like this can't be forced. No more than a Lion or Serpent's bond with its pilot."

        "We're not forcing this 'bond,'" Ezor defended. "Those two are scared _out of their wits_ when it comes to admitting their feelings. Ayiko's past and the rumors of the Miero cults should be enough explanation for her. And Lotor..." her voice faltered, "... with how his father treated him, he's kept a constant front that I doubt he'll let down anytime soon."

        "Think that's why they lost the shine in her eyes?" Zethrid inquired.

        "Maybe," the Scarlet Warrior considered. "Anyway, let's get things ready. With all that's been going on, the arena hasn't been used at all lately. It'll be perfect!"

        Allura smiled in amusement. "Ayiko and Lotor were right about you two being alike. Alright, I will join you."

        "Now that's what I'm talking about," Lance grinned. "Come on, let's get to the arena and start getting ready. We launch the plan as soon as Ayiko's at 100%."


	14. Thirteen

        On the other side of the galaxy, Haggar was at a shallow pool filled with refined liquid Quintessence. Floating crystals cast refracted purple light over the room, only contrasted by her glowing yellow eyes. None of the other Druids were with her, at her orders and their loyal obedience.

        In her clawed hands was a jar of dark blue liquid veined with purple. An energy she and the Druids came across, which their allies in the cults of Mierome call Decessence. The veins swirling in the container twisted in a double helix, a spiral ladder with gray strings of Miero blood as rungs. It was collected from a very particular prisoner. The only one who was compatible with Galra cybernetic limbs.

        Stepping into the pool, Haggar silently went to the center of the pool. She poured the liquid over the liquid Quintessence. The pale purple Quintessence washed out almost instantly, consumed by the deep blue liquid. The liquid's effect shot through her in blazing hot sparks, sending her mind to a realm of black.

        Haggar waited for the memories of her desired target to appear. She looked around at hearing the coo of an infant. An image of a silver-skinned Miero woman with green tendrils and eyes appeared, holding a small parcel in her arms. The image of another prisoner, back then a young and strong soldier, appeared next to the woman.

         _"She's beautiful, Ajhura,"_  he remarked, his finger dangling over the parcel. _"She has my face, and your eyes."_

         _"Indeed she does, Zerax,"_  agreed the woman. _"Our little Ayiko. Come on, sweetheart. Say goodbye to Papa before he leaves."_  Haggar watched as a tiny Miero arm and some small, blue tendrils reached up, the tendrils twining around Zerax's hand with a small coo.

         _"I know, my child,"_  Zerax said with a sigh. _"I wish I could stay as well. To watch you grow big and strong. But alas, I mustn't put you or your mother in danger. May we meet again someday."_  He gently pulled his hand from the bundled infant, and with a kiss to Ajhura, he left.

         _"Mama, no!!"_  the young voice made Haggar spin around to look at who must've been the infant. A purple-skinned Miero girl, dark blue tendrils held tense and glowing blue eyes slitted with horror. Her mother, with a greenish-yellow smoldering wound in her back, lay dead at her feet. The girl looked up before turning and running away. The Altean began to run after the child, the same way she did after the younger image of her son.

        When Haggar had finally caught up to the girl, the girl's image was much older, more recent; she was even standing beside her son. Their backs were towards the witch, and strange wrist cuffs were each on one of their gauntlets. A swarm of familiar dark purple creatures gathered in front of them in a scrawny humanoid form. Two pale yellow lights appeared as eyes as the the two pivoted around, eyes hidden. Their eyes opened in unison, glowing respectively bright blue and yellow.

        Haggar jolted back to her senses, backing out of the pool. The liquid Decessence gave off pinpricks of blue and purple light, subtly swirling at the center. Haggar was about to turn and leave when the liquid started glowing brighter, and a ghostly form began to appear floating above the pool. The Altean nearly startled when she realized it looked eerily similar to the Miero girl she saw: Ayiko. However, there was a strange, red-purple starburst at the form's chest, and its eyes glowed that color as they opened.

        _You should've died millenia ago,_  a warped female voice came from the specter. _Why haven't you died yet?_

        Haggar's eyes narrowed at the cold gaze. "I was brought back to life in the Quintessence field. I must know the secrets and the true power of Quintessence and its counterpart. Only then can I take control of Voltron, and avenge my late husband. And return to the same rift that was created ten thousand years ago."

        The spirit form scoffed. _The same husband that we corrupted along with you? You both weren't worthy of entering our territory back then. What makes you believe you can now, even with how far you've fallen?_

        Haggar didn't answer, glowering at the creature from under the hood of her cloak.

        The apparition seemed unamused by the action. _Your son has treated my most recent incarnation far better than you ever thought to treat me at all. The caring side of his soul makes him more able to rule either of his races, and worthy to enter our home, than you ever will._  The specter turned around as it and the Decessence began to vanish.  _End your quest here and now, Honerva. Continuing it will only give you a painful way of reuniting with your mate..._

        "Wait!" Haggar ordered, but it was too late. The spirit was gone, and all that was left was the pool of Quintessence, untouched by its antimatter counterpart.

* * *

        Lotor remained at Ayiko's side, watching over her as she rested. He continued running his fingers through her tendrils, a fond smile on his face. The Miero's features were graced by a foreign expression of peace, her tendrils like soft linen under Lotor's touch. He adored this kinder side of her delicately controlled strength. A pure, gentle heart behind the fierce tendrils and wall of ice only he can see through to.

        After a while, Lotor began to notice some of Ayiko's tendrils twitching at the ends. He could feel them turn rough and tense between his fingers with every twitch. Her closed eyes were now squeezed shut, causing him even more worry. She started slinking back against the wall in her sleep, like someone was threatening her.

        Lotor reached out to her shoulder to wake her up, but jerked his hand back as a tendril streaked across the back of it. That definitely wasn't a good sign. He even heard her muttering in her sleep.

        "Who are you?... What do you want?... Let me out... Somebody help..."

        The laram snake lifted its head, flicking its tongue at the scene before it. With a simple stretching of its body, it was flicking its pink tongue against her cheek, poking her with its nose. Lotor was about to urge the reptile away when Ayiko's free hand went up to swat it off. The snake pulled back, causing her to scratch her cheek in the process as she jumped awake.

        The Miero hybrid was silent, looking around. She sat up slowly, the blanket falling off her as she looked up at Lotor. "What is it? What happened?"

        Lotor was rather puzzled at the question. "You were having a nightmare, Ayiko. You were lashing your tendrils and muttering in your sleep. The laram snake helped you wake up... Can you even recall the dream?"

        Ayiko bit her lip, shaking her head sadly. "No, I can't recall anything. However, I'm glad that the snake helped me wake up. She must've known I was scared and was trying to find out what was causing it." She attempted twisting around to get off the berth like before, but only let out another pained hiss, grabbing at her side where she was chopped.

        Lotor began to look worried again, carefully easing the other hybrid back down on the berth. "I advise against trying to stand and walk until we're certain you've healed. Remember, that blow you took could've easily broken a rib had it been slightly higher than it was."

        Ayiko nodded slowly. "Thankfully it didn't hit the ribcage. I just... don't want to feel like a burden to you as the Emperor. Or cause any harm if I fall into another night terror."

        Lotor smiled sympathetically before wrapping an arm around her cold shivering form, pulling her into him. "You don't have to," he replied softly, his voice low and tender. "You'd never be a burden to me. I'll be right here so the terrors never come."

        Ayiko's face was already donning a gray tint. Lotor was actually  _holding_ her, as he had in the Castle of Lions. She was already still tired after that day's events and the night terror's aftermath, and Lotor's warmth was only making her sleepy. The way he carded his hand down her tendrils and back weren't helping, either.

        "It's alright, Ayiko. Just rest," she heard Lotor murmur, his voice distant to her. She was trying to stay awake, but clearly losing the battle. She barely registered Lotor reclining on the berth, pulling the blanket back over her. She felt a brief, soft pressure on her forehead as she finally succumbed to sleep.

        Lotor smiled warmly as Ayiko melted under his touch. Her head was resting on his chest, her breathing falling into a slow, deep rhythm. She looked so beautifully content, curled into his arms like this. He couldn't help it when he parted her fringe and kissed her forehead. The laram snake settled back into its spot, letting the male hybrid pat its head gently in thanks.

        He laid his head back on the berth, his hand still in Ayiko's tendrils and resting on her back. His other hand was on the side of her neck, tracing the scar on her cheek with his thumb. Ayiko nuzzled into his chest, sighing softly through her Galra fangs. He felt an odd warmth bloom in his chest, and this desire to stay with her, to protect her and help her when she needed it. He remembered, he felt that sensation before... on the first day he heard her voice. Closing his eyes, Lotor looked back on that memorable day.

         _It was a simple mission of taking control of a minor exiled fleet. It was also about three phoebs since Ayiko was adopted into the team, and she hadn't spoken a word. Ezor went after the fleet's captain, and Acxa was to hack the system. Zethrid, Narti, and Ayiko were left to capture soldiers and offline any robots before they went to help the captain._

_When the path had been cleared, Lotor had a strange gravitation towards corridors that were streaked with shallow marks almost like claws. Fragments of drones and sentries were scattered along the walls, and all but a few security cameras were also "clawed." They weren't at all like the usual fist marks that Zethrid left, neither Narti nor Kova had claws able to scrape solid metal, and he was rather skeptical of Ayiko's wedge-like hands causing such damage. But he thought little of it until after the mission was complete._

_Though what really did cause the path of destruction was a shock._

_When back on his cruiser, he asked each of those who were sent to clear the corridors. Zethrid said it wasn't her, and Narti only shook her head. The former even suspected an unstable prisoner, or something of the like. When he finally confronted Ayiko, she was heading to her quarters._

_"It was an impressive first mission for you, Ayiko," he began. "However, something does concern me. On the ship, there was a path of corridors streaked with marks similar to claws, and lined with debris. May I ask... if you know who caused it?"_

_Ayiko's eyes widened subtly. A few tendrils twitched at the ends, though she gave a single nod and pointed at herself with her hand._

_Lotor looked at her in disbelief. "You were? How did you do it?"_

_She glanced down at her tendrils as they flicked again._

_"I see. Is that a sort of... technique you use with your tendrils?"_

_She nodded again._

_Lotor let out a breath of relief. "At least it wasn't a dangerous prisoner, like Zethrid had assumed. If it truly was you, I commend your power. Your tendrils certainly are stronger than others of your kind." He thought he was seeing things, but he realized Ayiko looked... exhausted. Her legs were shaking slightly, her arms hung limp, and the light in her eyes was slightly dimmer than normal. "It seems you were fighting beyond your strength, as well."_

_Another nod, along with her looking down at the floor._

_Lotor frowned softly. "I have the notion that you were trying to prove yourself to me as a fighter. Did you often do that on your home-planet?"_

_Yet another nod from the Miero hybrid._

_He stepped up to her, taking her face in his hands so she met his eyes. He pressed his forehead against hers, a gesture that Galra only use to acknowledge who they consider an equal. "There is no need to do that here, Ayiko. Remember, you are already very strong without overexerting yourself. You don't have to use any more power than what you have."_

_He saw her glowing eyes reflect her emotions. Happiness, gratitude, and such a desperation for even one person to care about her instead of her performance._

_Lotor smiled slightly and backed away from the Miero. "You're a good soldier; no further proof is needed for any of us to see that. For the time being, go and get some rest. I'll tell Acxa to be less strict with you tomorrow."_

_A ghost of a smile crossed the Miero hybrid's lips. She saluted her superior, crossing her right arm over her chest. "Thank you, sir."_

_He hardly believed his ears as she disappeared behind the sliding door._

* * *

        If there was one thing that was worse than having your castle and only home stolen from under you, it was being thrown into the brig of said castle.

        The lights had already been changed to the pink and purple colors of the Druids instead of the familiar pure shade of blue. Everything around the brig was poorly lit, letting the lone prisoner suffer in a cold, dark silence.

        Coran huddled in a corner of the lone cell. Already it felt like movements since he'd last seen a friendly face. Be it of Lotor's team or of the Paladins -- besides that wretched clone who is the reason he's even in such a situation. There had only been a few small beatings and interrogations, but it was nightmarish to feel what other prisoners went through at the hands of Haggar and her cronies. He only had a faint sense of movement of the castle once in a while, but that was all he could hope to know.

        And to think, he was suspicious of Lotor and Ayiko, for betraying the team and intruding the castle respectively.

        The sound of the elevator pierced the silence that held the Altean like chains. He looked up, seeing a large group on the platform. When the elevator reached the floor, the group proved to be a few Druids --  _those masked monsters_  -- and four prisoners, captive in their magic. The Druids wordlessly pressed the button to expand the area of the cell to at least twice its former size, tossed in the prisoners, and left.

        As the Druids left, Coran looked closely at the four prisoners. They were in Galra prisoner rags -- not much different than his own now-tattered outfit -- but something was strange and oddly familiar about them.

        All of them were males, that seemed to be of the same species. The same gray skin and bare heads. Their frames could have well been comprised of rods, -- _By the ancients! How long has it been since_ they've _had a good meal?_  -- and there was something off about the shape of their feet. Dull black objects sprouted like tentacles from the tops of their shirts. They and their clothes were all stained and smeared with ash gray liquid, too.

        When the Druids were gone, the four newcomers began to stir and sit up. Even while sitting, it wasn't hard to see how each of them were taller than the Altean. Their tentacles stretched out like capes down their spines, yet they didn't have any fingers on their hands. Their voices were strained, and they were speaking in a language Coran couldn't decipher. They opened their eyes to reveal pupil-less silver pools, all glowing like...

        Like how Ayiko's eyes did.

        "You're Miero, aren't you," he murmured to them.

        The tallest of the four turned towards him. "Partially," he replied, his baritone voice scratched by dehydration. "We are all hybrids."

        Coran's eyes widened. "Hybrid Miero? Like Ayiko?"

        "You know about little Kiko?" the shortest of the boys asked in return. "Purple skin, blue eyes and tendrils, white gradient along the limbs?"

        "Yes, to all three," Coran answered with a smile. "She also tends to be very quiet and hard to track, and is very close to Emperor Lotor."

        "That is definitely her," the tallest confirmed. "Thank Rabora she's still alive. Anyways, name is Salen, and these are my brothers, Tarren, Xorrem, and Sepplon."

        "You may call me Coran," the Altean introduced himself. "I would introduce you to all of Team Voltron and Princess Allura if the circumstances were better. Ayiko would likely introduce you to Lotor and their friends as well, if she were here."

        Tarren's eyes widened. "Voltron, the legendary defender. That's good news; it means that we will not be under the magic of the Druids for much longer. And if the rumors spoken among the other prisoners are true, the new Galra emperor is a good soul that cares for hybrids like us."

        "That I can adhere to, gentlemen," the Altean assured. "Lotor truly does have a soft side for those like you, mainly because he is a hybrid himself. While we wait for a rescue party, we might as well exchange stories. What's yours with that little fleet-foot?"

        Sepplon gave a laugh that almost became a cough from dehydration. "We were friends of her mother, Ajhura. Kiko was such a joy to be around; not even the ways that pureblood Miero treated us kept her down forever. Her tendrils were strong, and her eyes were bright. We never thought anything could truly shatter her... until Ajhura was killed."

        "It was awful," Tarren shuddered. "The entire house was raided, and soon after burned to the ground. We found her hiding in a cave, to which she ran while fleeing the Trueblood members who took everything from her. She was... never the same again. Our once darling friend had become a silent statue, her eyes losing their shimmer completely."

        Coran's eyes softened in sadness. "If I recall correctly, Lotor's eyes didn't have much of a shine either."

        "We helped her in her upbringing any way we could," Xorrem continued. "But there was little we could do to help her recover. It wasn't long before she ran out on us, and all she left behind was a note saying she was going to become a soldier. She planned to reach a high-enough rank and plea her case with the king, and end the cults of Mierome."

        "A fairly solid plan," Coran commented. "However, according to Lotor, that didn't quite go as planned. While she did oversee a very important project at some point, she was soon demoted, probably by a complaining superior. After that, instead of being left for dead in a crater, she was taken in by the exiled prince and his team of half-Galra generals. And here, I hope that we will be rescued as well."

        "As do we," Salen agreed. "Back home, we have our own little phrase: The warm and caring can fix even shattered ice."

        "A very true and wise saying, indeed," the Altean approved. "Since you told your story with Ayiko, I'll return the favor with all I recall of the Paladins..."


	15. Fourteen

        Even in the short time with the company, Salen and his brothers were already proving to be good company for Coran. They listened to him talk about the Paladins with keen interest. Every now and then, one would comment on how they could relate to at least one of the Paladins.

        In those comments, Coran began to realize small parts of their personalities. As the oldest, Salen was the calm, undisputed leader to his brothers. Tarren was intelligent and courteous as the second oldest, but did have a hidden streak of sarcasm. Sepplon was the youngest, and very fond of color and humor, given how he laughed as Coran spoke of the Red Lion flying off on him and his case of the slipperies. Xorrem, as second youngest, was more rough around the edges, but cared for those he was close to.

        "As for how I ended up here," he concluded, "it was just a short test flight with the Lions and Serpents when the clone ambushed me. Next thing I knew, I was face-to-face with a bunch of bird-masks trying to zap the brains out of me! Thankfully for you, they haven't gotten what they wanted from me yet."

        "Neither have they for us," Salen added. "We believe they were trying to take our Decessence to see if they could harness it the way they can with Quintessence. However, they are having quite a bit of trouble in doing so."

        Coran tilted his head. "Decessence? What's that?"

        "It's the energy that all Miero, hybrid or otherwise, contain," Tarren explained. "The antimatter counterpart to Quintessence. It's volatile and dangerous to Quintessence creatures, but it can heal the injuries of Miero like us. Species based with Decessence, like Miero, are rendered immune to the Druids' draining and essence transferring abilities. The magic-imbued claw wounds they give us scar over fairly quickly, as well." He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt with a tendril to reveal three thick streaks of dark gray scar tissue along his forearm.

        "That looks like the same sort of injury Shiro sustained when we first confronted Zarkon," Coran remarked. "He had to be put in a healing pod for over a quintant because of it, among other injuries. Thank goodness you can't be turned into Robeasts, though."

        "We're lucky that we haven't yet been killed," Xorrem chimed in. "Since their draining attempts prove useless, the Druids have come to resort to other methods. Blood, amputated limbs, even cuttings of our tendrils. They haven't done amputation yet on us specifically, but most of the other prisoners... didn't survive, from lack of food and water, bleeding out, or electrocution during interrogations."

        "All the more reason why we have to get out of here, and soon," Coran replied. "Knowing the Paladins, they are already getting as much help as they can from Lotor and the Voltron Coalition."

* * *

        Pidge groaned when she lost the signal, again. Even after Hunk managed to get the chip working again, tracing the signal was proving harder than she thought. She, Acxa, and Krolia would have to do a very complex process just to get the relative location of the source, but just when she thought she had it, the fleet made a huge, unexpected jump.

        The Druids clearly expected them to try to track down the fleet, and made very specific measures to avoid being found out. She's been spending practically the entire quintant in this vicious cycle, and the opposing ships haven't lost any momentum. It was almost worthy of garnering the Green Paladin's respect. Almost.

        "No luck, Pidge?" Keith asked as he came up behind her.

        "Nothing," the shorter girl pouted. "It's like the Druids are just _toying_ with us. Every time I almost have the location, the fleet transfers to a _different_ far corner of the galaxy."

        "And it's already pretty late," Krolia pointed out. "I say we round up your friends and pick up where we left off in the morning. Maybe they'll be more vulnerable to discovery by then."

        "Point taken," Pidge relented as Keith led her away with an arm around her shoulders.

        "Good idea," Hunk yawned, pulling out his helmet to access the comms. "Hey Lance, Allura, we're turning in for the night. You probably should, too."

* * *

        Lance sighed when Hunk called them to say it was time to turn in for the night. He reluctantly agreed that it was getting late, and he, Ezor, and Allura went to get Lotor and Ayiko. Zethrid went off to join the others at the barracks. Since the trio assumed that neither of them left the infirmary, they decided to check that place first.

        Ezor was first to reach the closed door to the infirmary. There wasn't any noise in there, from what she was hearing. She cautiously stepped closer to the automatic door. When there still wasn't any noise, she stepped closer. The door shot open, and she almost jumped back. But there was still nothing. No jump of surprise from inside, no sword or tendrils held towards the door; just silence. She poked her head inside, and it took everything in her power not to coo at the scene.

        Right on the berth where everyone left them, Ayiko and the Galra emperor lay peacefully asleep. Ayiko was nuzzled into Lotor's chest, his arms secured around her. The Miero hybrid's tendrils were returning the embrace, subtly curling around them both. Neither of them moved as Ezor walked in, and they looked to be having the best sleep they had in a long time. The laram snake was patiently coiled up on the corner, lifting its head curiously at the Scarlet Warrior.

        Ezor was as quiet as she could be as she went to the berth, letting the snake loop around her arm. Its skin was smooth, and it looked inquisitively up at her face, pink tongue flicking at her. She adjusted the blanket over the couple and stepped back from the berth, slowly and quietly.

        She heard a sharp inhale and a soft click behind her, and turned to see Allura and Lance at the door. The Altean had a hand over her mouth, and the Earthling had his phone in his hands; they both were grinning. Ezor put a finger of her free hand to her lips, winking at the two as they left the infirmary, the door closing behind them

        "I'm  _so_  glad I got that on camera," Lance whispered as they walked off to the barracks, showing the picture on his phone.

        "Same here," Ezor agreed. "Those two are just so  _cute_  together. The snake's adorable, too. I might as well go to the labs and get a terrarium and maybe a snack for it, so it doesn't get any ideas while we're asleep."

        "Good idea," Allura approved. "We'll wait for you at the barracks."

        Ezor nodded to Allura in thanks before turning to Lance. "It wouldn't be a good thing if Acxa saw that photo, Lance. She's one who respects privacy, and would probably make you get rid of it."

        "You got it," Lance winked before she took off. "Keith is sorta the same way."

* * *

        Allura was finding it difficult to get to sleep tonight. Questions whirled about in her head from while she, Lance, Ezor, and Zethrid prepared their little "plan." Lance had asked quite a few things about the hybrids, but neither of them were exactly willing to share their pasts with the Paladins. All they knew was that the order in which they were recruited by Lotor was Acxa, Narti, Ezor, Zethrid, and Ayiko was last.

        "Can't sleep?" Allura jumped at the whispered question. She looked to see Ezor's veridian, slightly luminous eyes looking her way.

        "Not quite," she admitted at the same volume.

        Ezor smiled in understanding and pointed toward the door. Allura, seeing what the hybrid was hinting at, got out of bed and followed the taller girl out into the hall. She only spared a glance at the laram snake, resting in a large container on Ayiko's empty bed.

        "You actually know when one has something on their mind?" Allura asked when they were a safe distance from their sleeping comrades.

        Ezor nodded, her tentacle-like appendage bouncing as she plopped down on the floor against the wall. "Yeah. Believe me, on my first phoeb as one of Lotor's generals, it was hard for me to get to sleep. Narti would always lend an open ear for me to talk, and when Ayiko was with us, I'd talk to her to get her mind off things."

        "I can imagine," Allura giggled, but her smile faded. "Though that reminds me of what I was thinking about. I was always so focused on defeating our enemies... I never thought of what it was like for halflings like you. Seeing Ayiko couldn't have given me a clearer picture to open my eyes. Back when we found out about Keith's lineage, I was still resentful of the Galra for what they did to my planet, my family, and especially me. But now, I wonder, what was it like for the rest of you?"

        Ezor's eyes grew sad. "Guess I should've known that would be coming..."

        "You don't have to tell me!" Allura panicked. "I understand if you think it rude to ask!--"

        "It's alright," Ezor cut her off, her voice very low for such a happy-go-lucky person. "You deserve to know. For starters, I had to put up with a lot of jeering, and maybe the occasional blow from my species. The difference between me and the rest of my kind was the yellow in my eyes. I was left alone most of the time, but that was the problem; it sucked being lonely, and I became pretty withdrawn. My family wasn't exactly around much, so I'd just practice throwing things when I got bored."

        "Is that how you became so accomplished with your knives?" asked the Altean princess.

        Ezor grinned. "Yup. And it got even better when Lotor came around. It was just Acxa and Narti with him at the time. See, my planet was already Galra-controlled, and it was pretty easy for him to take them out. When he came to my city to clear out the Quintessence mines, I didn't know he had already taken over. Hiding on top of a building, I threw a few scraps of metal from destroyed sentries at them. I know I almost got Kova, and I'm sure another one missed. But the last one got shot back toward me by Acxa, and I barely had time to duck under the banister at the top of the building."

        "Hide back and strike from a distance," Allura summarized. "Sounds awfully familiar."

        "I know, that was the first thing Ayiko told me. But I was still hiding up on the building. Lotor was calling up, asking me to come down. I wasn't all that up for it, and stayed put. When I finally mustered the courage to look, they weren't there anymore. At first, I thought they gave up and left and was about to leave myself. But, that was when Narti grabbed the base of my crinis," she pointed at her appendage, "and lifted me off my feet.

        "I tried to kick back and get loose, but ended up getting banged against the banister so I'd hold still. Lotor and Acxa came up behind her, and already I knew they noticed I was different. Lotor said, 'You must be the Galra hybrid I was told about.' I was scared that something bad was going to happen, but he actually complimented me. 'You have an impressive throw, if nearly hitting us is any indication. I usually go around the galaxy and recuit any Galra hybrids I find. Join me, and you will be accepted, as well as trained to be part of my special elite.'"

        Allura looked rather amused and impressed by the Scarlet Warrior's imitation. "And you accepted."

        "Well, yeah. I mean, who wouldn't? If there's one thing all hybrids need, it's acceptance. It isn't every quintant that you meet someone who's dealt with what you have. I said yes to his offer, and Narti put me on the ground. Though apparently she bashed my spine on that banister harder than I thought, and it was suddenly really painful to walk. Narti apologized by helping me to Lotor's ship and wrapping up my crinis where her claws dug in. Let me tell you, it didn't take long to get good with throwing knives. Over time, I even managed to let down the walls I didn't know I built up."

        "Really?" Lance's voice inquired as he came up to the two. "That makes us more alike than I thought."

        Ezor's eyes narrowed as she got into a crouched position, like an angry cat ready to pounce. "Did you record any of what I said?"

        Lance put his hands up at the hybrid's dangerous expression. "Don't worry, don't worry. My phone's mic was off the whole time. I did hear your little backstory, though, and I wasn't kidding with what I said." He sat on Ezor's other side with enough space for the two girls.

        "How does her past relate to yours, Lance?" Allura asked. "Don't you have a fairly large family?"

        Lance's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Let's just say having a big family is a low chance of getting much attention. I wasn't exactly the oldest sibling, or the youngest, so I was brushed off a lot. Joining the Galaxy Garrison back home is basically the only thing that actually got the family's attention all on me. But when I started my training... The teachers weren't exactly friendly. Always comparing me to Keith like I was a second-rate pilot even after he dropped out."

        "We all know how that feels," Ezor replied, her position shifting back to sitting against the wall. "But it isn't just with training. Every hybrid is treated like they're a second-rate  _person_. And while most other species aren't as... extreme as the Miero, some people are or can be just as bad as them."

        "And Lotor had to feel that pain for the ten thousand years Coran and I were asleep," Allura concurred. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has just as many mental scars."

        Ezor nodded. "And Ayiko is like his gravity or something. She's not afraid to step up when she thinks he's going too far. Not to say she didn't believe in heta -- hetero -- I'll just call it hybrid vigor for the sake of simplicity. Handling the complicated words is more Acxa's job. But seriously, Ayiko was like a mental anchor and a driving force. She always seemed to have the right intuition on how far to push. She did always have this weird picture, though."

        "Weird picture?" Lance echoed. "What did it look like?"

        "I only ever got a few quick glances at it, but it looked like two different versions of her -- one older, one younger -- with four really tall guys. The four guys looked a lot alike, too, come to think of it. Tall, thin as a bunch of polearms, same gray skin and silver eyes, same black tendrils that came from somewhere on the back instead of the head. You'd probably think they were brothers if you saw them for yourself, believe me."

        "They could be other hybrids like Ayiko," Lance pointed out. "And probably friends of hers. But if there were two versions of her in one picture, wouldn't the older one be her mom?"

        Ezor's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah; good point. It would be kinda weird if there actually were two versions of her at the same time."

        "Yeah, it would," Lance agreed. "I actually have a pretty good idea." He pulled out his phone and brought up the picture he took of their target couple. "Sending it to all the Paladins and Warriors but Ayiko and Lotor. This'll give them both a surprise tomorrow morning." He texted something along with the picture and sent it before Allura could object.

        "I don't think a certain few of our friends will be all that pleased," she pointed out.

        "Relax, I put the send on anonymous," Lance waved it off. "They won't know who sent it."

        "Nice," Ezor winked with a grin. "Like I said back while we were planning, we make a pretty good team, sniper."

        Lance smirked and winked back. "You know it." He yawned not long after saying it. "I'm goin' back to bed. I might as well get a few vargas in before everyone freaks out at the picture."

        "Good idea," Allura agreed as the three stood up. "We'll see you in the morning, Lance."

        He waved back at the girls as they went back to the respective guys' and girls' barracks.


	16. Fifteen

        Ayiko slowly stirred; she didn't know how long she'd been asleep. She could feel arms wrapped around her, a heartbeat under her head. The pain from yesterday's injuries was gone; she now felt warm, and safe. Her tendrils were wrapping around the source of warmth, she could feel it. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing a lock of familiar white hair.

         _He didn't leave me, again,_  she noticed drowsily. _Perhaps they really were right._

        She shifted slightly in his arms so she could look up at his face. Lotor seemed to have also fallen asleep, his expression peaceful. She felt his hand resting on her back, laced in her tendrils. His arms tightened around her with the movement. His eyes slowly opened partially, gazing down at her.

        "Good morning, my lord," she murmured.

        "Good morning, Ayiko," he greeted back, his voice soft. She felt his hand slowly shift up to wrap around her shoulders.

        Their eyes shot open.

        Ayiko sat up in shock, nearly falling off the berth if she didn't brace her tendrils against the floor behind her. Lotor's eyes were wide with shock. The Miero hybrid knew it; he touched the permanent souvenir of the Druids' experiments.

        "Ayiko," Lotor breathed. "What was that? It felt like... like a Druid's claws." Realization and grief showed in his face and eyes.

        Ayiko slunk against the wall, only giving a single nod.

        Lotor carefully reached out, resting it on her shoulder. She tensed slightly, but didn't back away. His fingers lightly brushed over the grooves beneath the undersuit. One, two, three streaks, right shoulder down to below the bicep; just like he thought. Definitely not the long, shallow patterns left by the Miero cultists, or the web-like gap at the center of either of their spines; these were wide, jagged indents that were thicker than a person's finger, and twice as long.

        "What did they  _do_  to you?" The words came out no louder than a whisper.

        "Tried to take my arm like they did with the Black Paladin," she said softly. "I freed myself from their table and grappled with the soldiers who tried. I nearly got out, but a Druid came in and clawed me to stop my rampage. After that, they settled for my hands."

        Lotor's facial expression steeled. "In that case, it's a good thing that the Druids are our prime target." He stood up from the berth and, taking the Miero hybrid's hand in a careful clasp, led her out of the infirmary.

* * *

        When the two were fully armored, ready, and going to the Grand Hall, they were met by a number of strange looks from the Paladins and Warriors. Some could be classified as knowing smiles, but most of them were just weirded out. They continued giving them those expressions until Ayiko got annoyed enough to ask.

        "What in Rabora's scales are you looking at us that way for?" she demanded, her voice lacking emotion but holding a dangerously sharp undertone.

        "Um," Hunk slowly stepped forward, pulling out his phone. "We were hoping you could explain this picture we all got this morning." With a flick on the screen, he pulled out the picture of them sleeping in the infirmary, much to both of their surprise. Just ticks after seeing the picture, their eyes widened, with their cheeks turning dark gray and deep magenta, respectively.

        "Who took that picture?" Lotor asked, coughing in embarrassment. "And who sent it to all of you?"

        "We were hoping you would know," Pidge stated.

        "I have the feeling that it was one of our usual troublemakers," Keith frowned. "Alright, sis, Lance or Ezor?"

        Acxa knew what he meant. "I'd wager it was both of them in some fashion. The snake wasn't in the barracks last night, but it was this morning. I doubt Ayiko could've brought it there while she was in pain, and Lotor would be highly unlikely to leave her side unless something happened."

        Ezor and Lance stiffened, eyes wide. They glanced at each other for a single tick, then took off headlong down the corridor.

        "Oh no they did  _not!_ " Pidge exclaimed, livid at the two. Keith sighed and held onto her shoulder to keep her from trying to chase them.

        Ayiko gave Lotor a single glance, tendrils flicking. The emperor gave a single nod, allowing the Miero hybrid to take off at top speed after them.

        "Why'd you let _her_ go after them?" Pidge demanded.

        "As a Miero, Ayiko can easily outrun and overtake both of them," he reminded them. "I don't doubt she'll be coming back with them shortly."

* * *

        "You think they'll catch up with us?" Lance asked as he and Ezor continued the headlong sprint.

        "We had a head start and they had a delayed reaction," Ezor considered. "Odds are we should be fine unless..." she felt something wrap itself around her wrists from behind. "Oh, quiznak."

        "Ayiko," they both realized as the Cyan Warrior stretched out in front of them, tendrils around their wrists. With a single movement, the Miero hybrid made a quick halt, causing both of them to be nearly pitched backward by the sudden stop.

        "Now you two had best come quietly," she stated. "You should know it's useless to outrun a race built for speed."

        "Hey, it's fight or flight!" Lance defended. "Besides, uh... we have that surprise for you and Lotor!"

        Ezor caught his glance. "Yeah!" she agreed with a grin. "We promise you'll love it! Just call Lotor over, and we'll bring you to where we had it prepared."

        Ayiko looked extremely skeptical of their offer. "You still need to be dealt with about what you did, which was likely to be last night at the earliest. Surprise or none, you're coming with me." Holding their wrists in the grip of her tendrils like handcuffs, Ayiko led them back the way they came, her two prisoners sighing in relent.

        "Returning with prisoners, Emperor Lotor," the Miero hybrid intoned as she came in.

        "As fleet of foot as always," Lotor smiled jokingly at her. "Now then, are your prisoners going to admit to their felony?"

        The two frowned and bowed their heads. "Yes."

        "You can just delete the picture and pretend this whole thing never happened," Lance told them glumly.

        "Gladly," Acxa replied as they all proceeded to delete the picture they were sent. Once they all had done so, Ayiko let go of the two.

        "We were hoping that you'd take it at least a little better," Ezor pouted.

        [Emperor Lotor, there is a delivery to the Empire from the Blade of Marmora,] a sentry interrupted, carrying a small crate. The droid simply set down the crate, gave a salute, and walked away.

        "From the Blade of Marmora?" Krolia echoed. "Wonder why they would do that."

        "Only one way to find out," Keith replied, walking over to the crate. Using his Marmora knife, he pried it open and looked inside. His eyes widened. "Okay, that actually  _is_  a good reason for sending a package." He reached in and pulled out a luxite wrist cuff, just like Ayiko's -- besides the glowing magenta symbol on it.

        "Another Picar," the Miero hybrid breathed. "Is there any sort of message in it?"

        "Just an inscription on the inside of the crate," Keith shrugged. "It says, 'Four newly-crafted blades became these objects. Zerax and I recalled the incident with the Miero girl, and presumed it was meant for Emperor Lotor and his comrades.' There are three more of those 'Picars' in here, and each one has a different symbol and color."

        "If we correlate the colors of the Picars' symbols with those of the Serpents, it would be safe to assume that particular one is my own," Lotor mused, walking over to the half-Galra Paladin. Keith shrugged and handed him the cuff, which Lotor proceeded to clasp over his gauntlet. With a small flash of light, an Altean broadsword appeared in his hand, the symbol of the Champion of Essence proudly glowing at the base of the blade.

        "I'm not entirely surprised that your best-suited weapon is an Altean broadsword," Acxa commented. Her brother tossed her a cuff with a green symbol that looked similar to a light bulb. After she put it on, a blaster somewhat bigger than her usual one appeared in her grasp, the symbol right at the center of its length. "Impressive."

        "Another no-brainer," Ezor deadpanned, strutting over to the crate. "You might as well find out something new." She took out a cuff with a red heart-like symbol on it and clasped it on her gauntlet. The following flash in her hand stretched as far as she was tall, fading into a black staff with slightly curled, red-edged blades on both ends. One half of the symmetrical red symbol was emblazoned on each blade. She twirled it around in her hands, causing those nearby to back away. "Yup, along with throwing weapons, I'm also good with melee."

        Ayiko muttered Mieran words under her breath in exasperation. "Zethrid, yours is the only Picar that's left."

        The Citrine Warrior grinned and sauntered to the crate. She whipped out the last cuff -- which had the gold sun-like symbol -- and clasped it over the wrist of her gauntlet. A blaze of light similar to Ezor's emanated from it. She found herself holding a large battle-ax, with a broad spearhead on top of the axe head that bore her symbol.

        "A halberd," Pidge remarked. "And a pretty big one at that. Whether you'd rather chop or thrust in battle, that can go either way."

        Zethrid tested the weight of the weapon in her hands, grinning in approval. "Not bad. I could get used to using something like this."

        "I have a feeling you _all_ will easily get used to using your Picars," Ayiko remarked. "Especially considering you've been using your most suited weapons for quite a while."

        "Point taken," Ezor shrugged as the weapons all vanished. "Anyway, you guys can head back to... whatever you were doing to track the Druids. But for now, Lance and I have something to show  _these_  two." She grinned as she grabbed Ayiko's shoulder and led her down the corridor, Lance doing the same with Lotor.

        "And just to keep it a surprise till we get there," Lance began as they dropped Lotor and Ayiko's helmets onto them, the visors completely blacked out. "We'll take them off once we've sent you in."

        "There had better be a good reason why you're doing this to us," Ayiko frowned, not even her eyes visible on the outside of the helmet. "Or else there surely will be a reason to regret it."

        She felt Ezor lightly tap her helmet. "Don't worry your pretty, tendril-covered head about it. I know you'll enjoy it."

* * *

        Ayiko could only listen and feel as she and Lotor were lead along. She didn't hear any sentries or soldiers -- Ezor and Lance must've taken care not to come across any for fear of being misinterpreted. She did hear when Lotor was taken in another direction, but was able to keep in touch since they still had their helmets.

        "I'm not liking the fact that we're being led along blindly this way," she muttered over the comm between her and Lotor.

        _"Neither do I,"_  replied the emperor.  _"But I am sure that they don't mean any sort of harm. You know the lengths Ezor goes to when she's keeping anything a surprise."_

        "And here we are," Ezor chirped. Ayiko began to feel a hard, grainy substance under her feet instead of tiled floor. "Have fun!" Within the course of a few ticks, she shoved Ayiko further into the room she was in, took off her helmet, and ran away.

        The Miero hybrid deadpanned at the closed door behind her. She was in a large room with absolutely no lights on at the moment. Thankfully, the Red Paladin and Scarlet Warrior seemed to have forgotten the fact that her eyes are meant for seeing in such conditions.

        She looked around at the thousands upon thousands of empty seats above the enormous sand-covered plane she was standing on, figuring she was in the gladiator arena. Lotor, on the other side of the arena, was evidently having trouble seeing in the dark. He stood stock-still in place, looking for any sign of light that could help in the situation.

         _What in Rabora's scales did they bring us in_ here _for? Do they expect us to_ fight _?_

        She looked up when she saw movement in the announcer's podium. It appeared to be Ezor and Lance trying to plug the latter's phone into the speaker system. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear them talking from the distance, and they were probably whispering, too. The high-pitched screech of the feedback sent both her and the emperor reeling from the noise.

        When the noise had stopped, Ayiko looked again to see Ezor whack the back of Lance's head with the flat of her knife. She shook her head in disapproval. Looking back towards Lotor, she saw him still looking around helplessly in the dark, only stopping when he locked onto her scintillant gaze.

        Ayiko decided to walk over to Lotor and help him out. He took a few hesitant steps towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder so she could guide him.

        "It seems we are both in the arena," she whispered to him, leading him to the side she was shoved in. "Ezor and Lance are up making a mess of the audio system."

        "So I heard," he muttered back. "What could they be doing up there?"

        The two stopped when they saw the arena's lights turn on, remaining a dim sheen that looked almost like the stars were above them. A sound rang through the speakers, but not like feedback. The sound rose into a [melody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZWjnYt7KLg); A soft, haunting, but beautiful melody that she'd never heard before. She even saw what appeared to be Ezor and Lance fleeing the scene.

        "This is likely to be more music from the Paladins' home-planet," Ayiko mused. "It's... rather nice."

        Lotor looked at the peace surfacing in the Miero's eyes, and her guarded expression growing relaxed. His own eyes began to glimmer, ever so slightly. "Care to dance, Ayiko?"

        Ayiko turned to him, eyes widened slightly but shining just like his. She looked down humbly, shifting on her haunches. "I suppose..."

        He smiled, carefully taking one of her hands while resting the other on her waist. Her other hand came to rest on his shoulder before they began to sway to the rhythm. The song and all its beauty echoed across the sheer size of the coliseum, immersing the pair down on their sand-covered stage.

        The couple's dance escalated with the melody, never once straying from the rhythm. The Galran fire within them combined perfectly with Lotor's Altean compassion and Ayiko's Mieran grace. The flames of their very souls burned practically as one, even with their clear differences.

        As the song reached its climax, Lotor gently brought Ayiko's hand to rest against his heart. His hand lifted from hers, moving to the side of her neck. His thumb traced over the scar on her cheek, both mesmerized by each other's gaze. He pulled her closer with his arm that was still around her waist. He began to lean in toward her, his eyes sliding shut. Ayiko lifted her head, her eyes falling closed. In that single moment, the song that immersed them fell silent. Their surroundings faded to nothing but each other as their lips met in a soft, loving embrace.

        Up in the far back of the stands, Ezor, Lance, and Allura sat in hiding. They watched the scene with use of a small Galra drone that Pidge managed to incorporate cloaking into, and that Lance was currently controlling while they watched the screen.

        "And we have made contact," Ezor said quietly with a grin. "Operation Cat-Snake, complete."

        "It's Operation Serpopard," Lance corrected, steering the drone to retrieve his phone. "Something I think Pidge came up with or whatever... but yeah, Mission Accomplished."

        "That was certainly a lovely song and dance," Allura admitted. "They didn't need to say anything to each other. Their actions spoke for them."

        "And Zethrid was right about the glint in their eyes," Ezor added. "The way they started to look more... alive when they looked at each other. Never in all our time with Lotor had we seen his eyes shine."

        "They truly are a miracle to each other." Allura smiled down at them from their hiding place. "Come along, let's give them a bit of privacy like sensible people." She grabbed both of their wrists and led them out the nearest exit.

        Just when they got out, a call came over the comms from Pidge.  _"Guys, we managed to get a hold of the Druids' fleet location. Come over to the main computer room so we can tell you. You all might to see where they are."_

        "Took them long enough to track down those freaks," Lance commented. "Let's go before our lovebirds get suspicious from seeing us. They'll probably be right behind us."

* * *

        "Okay, so we got the fleet's location off in an extinct solar system," Pidge explained once everyone was there. "There's a very unstable supergiant star that sends frequent coronal mass ejections, so we'll have to be careful unless we want to burn to a crisp in your Lion or Serpent."

        "And there's the possibility of it going supernova in our faces," Keith added. "This will have to ideally be a quick grab-and-go rescue mission. Mom and I already told the Blades about it."

        "Sure, that won't lead to anything bad, I hope," Lance retorted. "I guarantee at least something will go wrong."

        Ezor elbowed the Latino boy. "Have a little faith in the allied party, Lance! We were  _trained_  for these kinds of missions when we worked under Lotor. And don't forget, Acxa, Zethrid, and I worked for Haggar, too. You think something will go wrong? I think we'll get it done without a hitch."

        "Assuming we can maintain every advantage we have over them," Acxa countered. "The Druids aren't only powerful, but they are also extremely volatile in combat. And considering the location, there will be more obstacles than simply the fleet."

        "And where is the exact location?" Allura asked the tech team.

        Keith began to look worried. "Right in front of some sort of gateway we saw. Just between the ruined planets of Daibazaal... And Altea."


	17. Sixteen

        Ayiko spared Allura a glance from her station on Lotor's old cruiser. As opposed to her usual behavior, the Altean princess was totally silent when they were discussing their plan of attack not too long ago. She didn't hear a word from the pink-armored Paladin even when the Lions and Serpents were transferred to the cruiser. She did, however, see Ezor whispering to Lance, teaching him the functions of their stations.

        The positions of the generals' stations were rather nostalgic to all of them, and it definitely showed. Ezor monitored space debris and things like that, Lance helping once he got the gist of her station. Ayiko was at Narti's old position, tracking any surrounding manned spacecraft while Allura watched. It was a position the Miero hybrid took on when Narti and/or Kova were injured in a previous battle. Zethrid took the weapons' station, ready to fire at any enemy ships that were spotted. Acxa was at the steering station while Pidge kept an eye on the mainframe. Lotor was on his throne flanked by Keith and Krolia, keeping an eye on everyone's work.

        The plan was simple enough for storming the fleet. Thanks to being with Pidge, Acxa had learned to incorporate a cloaking system into the cruiser's mainframe as well as hide its signal, to the emperor's approval. Thanks to that, they could easily sneak up on the Druids' fleet without much trouble, unless they had some sort of way to interfere. They had even incorporated a small teludav into the cruiser to help them get to the fleet faster, with remnants of the scaultrite that Acxa had retrieved from her mission regarding the weblum.

        "Preparing to activate the teludav," Acxa reported. "Power levels at 40%... 80%... ready to create wormhole."

        "How are they powering up without someone charging the teludav thing?" Lance asked.

        "It's concentrated Quintessence from the Druids' labs," Ezor explained. "Most of the Quintessence in there was normally used for the Beasts before the Druids were chased out of Central Command."

        "Oh, that makes sense," Lance smiled in relief as the wormhole appeared and the cruiser went in. "Quintessence formerly used to make giant Robeasts before the robed beak-freaks were tossed out of the main base."

        "Basically," shrugged the general.

        "Ship and signal cloaking activated," Pidge reported. "We'll be leaving the wormhole a little ways from the fleet so they don't suspect anything."

        "Good work, Pidge," Keith commended. "They won't know what hit 'em."

        "Remember, we'll mainly have to use stealth and speed to get what we're looking for," Krolia reminded them. "Infiltrate the main ship, offline Kuron's connection to Haggar, take back your castle and friend, and possibly take out Haggar and Sendak while we're at it."

        Everyone nodded in agreement before the cloaked cruiser left the wormhole. The fleet hovered ominously around the ruins of Daibazaal and Altea. Not far from the planetary debris was a relatively small metal structure with the glow of scaultrite within the frame.

        "The reality gate I built," Lotor realized. "What does that which want with the work I inherited from my mother?"

         _I have a guess,_  Ayiko thought uneasily. _But only Rabora knows if I'm right or wrong._

        "Alright, everyone, let's get to it," Keith began. "Pidge, like back on Olkarion, you'll be the drop ship. You'll be taking Mom and the Paladins to the main ship so we can find and take back the castle, and Kuron."

        "The Serpents seem to be nearly impossible to trace without proper search parameters," Lotor pointed out. "This will give the Warriors the perfect opportunity to incapacitate the rest of the fleet. However, the combined attack will have to be well-timed for it to work. The Warriors will wait in the Serpents by the cruiser, and attack the tick that the Druids discover something amiss."

        "Alright then, let's move," Krolia barked.

        As the others left, Ayiko laid her hand on Allura's shoulder before she walked away. The Altean turned to her questioningly.

        "I can tell something is on your mind, Allura," she murmured. "Care to tell while we head to the bay?"

        Allura hesitated, but gave a nod before they began walking. "It's rather... unnerving that our enemy has gathered at the ruins of the Galra and Altean home-planets. And I've discovered that Haggar is... Altean. And she may be a corrupted persona of Honerva... Lotor's mother."

        Ayiko's eyes widened slightly. "I've actually begun considering that myself. That would explain why the soldiers spoke of how closely she followed Zarkon, and why she tended to stalk Lotor, according to the others. I have my doubts that Lotor would dare believe that the one person still alive that he despises is actually the mother he highly speaks of."

        "That could explain why he was so defensive toward the matter the first time he and I entered the Druids' labs and discovered Oriande's existence. It would be shattering and infuriating for him should that be the case."

        "Well, whether she's his mother or not, Haggar is a horrible person. She will have to see the caliber of what she's done eventually."

        Allura nodded as she went to the others in the Green Lion, and Ayiko to the Cyan Serpent.

* * *

        The plan seemed to be going well so far. The Green Lion flew cloaked to the main ship, trailed by the Serpents flying in formation. The Warriors stopped in their flight as the Green Lion let out its passengers except for Pidge. Watching on the monitor, they watched Keith cut a hole in the metal with his Bayard, all of them slipping inside after him.

         _"Now all we can do is wait,"_  Lotor told the Warriors over the comms.  _"The moment that even one of the ships move in our direction, we attack."_

        "In the meantime, it appears that the Druids are attempting to open the reality gate," Ayiko pointed out. The Druids on each ship in the fleet were firing bolts of magic to the gate, causing it to glow brighter than before.

         _"If anything comes out of the gate, we may have to engage sooner than we planned,"_  Acxa stated. _"But we can't act yet, so we still have to wait."_

 _"Bottom line, it's a waiting game until something big happens,"_  Ezor summarized, huddling in her seat. _"Let's hope the Paladins are having as much fun."_

* * *

        Keith and the other Paladins sneaked through Haggar's cruiser while dodging sentries and patrols. There weren't any Druids, as far as they could tell. They kept their comms open for Pidge to keep them posted.

        "Pidge, are we any closer to the castle on this thing?" he asked in a whisper.

         _"Yeah, it's not far away from where you guys are,"_  the Green Paladin confirmed.  _"Just make a left at the next turn and you should be right where they're keeping it. I'm detecting a bunch of life signals in the castle though: five in the brig, and one at the bridge."_

        "Good that we're close," Lance remarked as they hurried down the corridor. "Not sure about who might be in there."

        "I'm sure that one of the signals in the brig is Coran," Allura murmured. "And that on the bridge is that clone. But those other four in the bridge...?"

         _"It's hard to tell,"_  Pidge replied. _"One is definitely Altean, so you're right about Coran being in there. The other four... it's hard to explain what species they are. It's like the DNA scanners in the castle detected two different species in the same organism four times over. I'm also getting these off-the-chart readings of an unknown energy emanating from all four of them. And this isn't Quintessence."_

        There wasn't much else for either side to say. The group made it to the enormous bay where the castle stood in the center. All of its lights were bright purple instead of blue. A Druid and a few soldiers and sentries stood on the ramp leading into the castle, being handed something by the clone. The group wound up having to hide behind some of the fighters before they were spotted.

        "Well, we're about to find out about it," whispered Krolia. "We found the castle. But I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to glow purple."

        "It's not," Allura muttered. "We'll have to wait until they leave."

        The next few dobashes were a tense silence that felt like it took vargas. Everyone was wound up like a spring, but Keith seemed to be by far the most ready to attack. They watched as the small group lowered to the floor and left without saying a word, the clone going along with them. The Paladins sighed in relief and hurried to the castle.

        The purple lights in the castle gave the Paladins an eerie sense of deja vu. It didn't help that Sendak was possibly in this fleet, ready to start firing off at them. They started heading down to the brig to see if they could free Coran and see anyone else who was in there. Just by going down the elevator, they could see a huddled pile of purple and black around an unmistakable splash of orange.

        "That's definitely Coran," Keith muttered, pointing to the orange blotch as the elevator reached the floor. They all ran toward the single cell, getting a better look at the four people surrounding Coran. He appeared to be unconscious and was sparking with Druid electricity in his tattered suit. The gray-skinned people looked up at the approaching group with their glowing eyes, with the tallest giving a warning hiss sounding vaguely similar to static. Lance and Hunk stopped in their tracks with a flinch.

        "Coran..." Allura breathed, fighting back the tears under her helmet. She turned to the defensive strangers in the cell. "What did they do to him?"

        The tallest man stopped hissing and raised his head. "So sorry, miss," he apologized, his deep voice hoarse and dry. "They tried to interrogate him hardly a varga prior to your arrival. The Druid hoped to do the same to us, but he said that some sort of plan is going underway and left."

        "You look a bit like Miero, though," Krolia pointed out, gesturing to the black tendrils around the four boys. "But not completely, sorta like Ayiko."

        The second-tallest boy's eyes widened. "You are the Paladins Coran told us about. You know little Kiko, our fellow Miero hybrid. Where is she?"

        "Ayiko's outside the fleet," Keith told them as he opened the cell. He tuned the comms to contact the Warriors. "Hey Lotor, we've come across a group of hybrid Miero with Coran in the castle's brig. Does Ayiko know any named... uh..." He looked to the boys.

        "Salen," the tallest man said, pointing to himself with his hand as he got Coran onto his back with his tendrils. "And my brothers, Tarren, Xorrem, and Sepplon."

        "Right," nodded the Earthling-Galra hybrid. "Does Ayiko know anyone named Salen, Tarren, Xorrem, or Sepplon?"

         _"What?"_  Ayiko's voice had vague undertones of horror. _"Salen_ _and his brothers_ _are_ with _you? How did that happen? I haven't seen those boys in deca-phoebs."_

        "She sounds rather surprised, but she apparently does know you," Krolia stated. "As I quote, 'I haven't seen those boys in deca-phoebs.'"

        "That's definitely our Kiko," remarked the one named Sepplon.

        "Oh, so they aren't what we thought they were," Lance sighed in relief as he and Hunk relaxed. "Anyway, let's get to the bridge and get the castle back with us."

        "And let's hurry," Hunk added. "You never know when Kuron might come back. Especially with reinforcements."

        "Good idea," Keith nodded in agreement. "Hunk, lead Salen and his brothers to the infirmary. Give them some food and water, but don't let anyone into a healing pod until the lights are blue again. Everyone else, we're heading to the bridge to take back the castle, and stand guard for any unwanted guests."

        "You got it," Hunk saluted before they all went to the elevator. Once back on the upper floor, the groups split up. The hybrid Miero brothers followed the Yellow Paladin at a relatively normal speed, indicating they weren't in the best shape. The others went straight towards the bridge, ready to get back the Castle of Lions.

        The crystal at the bridge was obviously corrupted by the Druids magic. The consoles were mostly off, and the only ones that were on glowed with Galran glyphs on the screens.

        "How do we get it under control without a relapse of last time we had a Galra crystal?" Lance asked.

        "I think I can undo the corruption of the crystal," Allura answered, walking to the crystal and laying her hand on it. She closed her eyes in concentration. Her body began to glow a bright blue that spread to the crystal. Sparks flew weakly from the crystal as she glowed even brighter, the crystal soon joining her light. It gradually turned a bright sky blue, slowly spreading through the systems. The Galran glyphs turned to Altean on the holographic screens as Allura removed her hand from the crystal.

        "Good, the castle's back with us," Keith smiled. "Now to bust this thing out of the cruiser."

        "That can be arranged," Krolia grinned before going to the main terminal. "Altean and Galran glyphs are similar enough that I believe that this is what we need." She typed on the keyboard before pushing a button. The monitor lit up with showing the spire cannons firing full-force at the ceiling, causing a huge _**crash**_  as a gargantuan hole appeared in the roof.

        "Nice!" Lance cheered. "Now let's get out of here before those creeps come back."

* * *

        Right when the outside group saw the back of the main cruiser explode with blue lasers, they knew something right had happened. The Castle of Lions slowly rose through the large hole as the fleet began to react to the explosion. One of the ships noticed the Serpents and the appearing Green Lion, preparing its ion cannon as the others readied their Komar beams.

         _"This ends now, witch,"_  Lotor hissed.  _"_ _Attack."_

        The Lion and Serpents had shot forward the instant the blasts were fired. The Serpents weaved between the blasts and fighters. The Scarlet and Cyan Serpents looked to be especially adept in dodging the beams as they fired back. Citrine was taking a bit of the enemy fire, but something seemed to be opening along the length of the underside.

        Pidge was able to give Zethrid a little cover as they began to advance towards the cruisers and their main weapons. The ion cannon from the same cruiser as before began to charge up again, aiming straight for the Green Lion despite Pidge not being focused on it.

         _"Watch out, Pidge!"_  Acxa exclaimed as the cannon fired.

        The Citrine Serpent made a sudden twist, bashing the Green Lion aside while getting away from the blast. After that, it shot towards the ion canon and wound around it. With a quick squeeze, the entire body tightened around the mechanism, and the ion cannon snapped in two.

         _"Whoa, how'd you do that, Zethrid?"_  Ezor asked as they moved on to another cruiser.

         _"Not sure,"_  shrugged the stronger Galra hybrid. _"I guess my Serpent was as eager to crush that thing as I was."_

         _"Emphasizing 'crush',"_  Ayiko added. _"At least it worked. Now how to take out those Druids and the Komar devices?"_

        The Serpents heard a chorus of roars and looked toward the castle and cruiser. Aside from the castleship with its barrier up and firing off at the fighters, the other Lions were speeding towards the fray, lasers and jaw blades flying.

         _"We can help,"_  Keith answered.  _"Pidge, get into formation. Time to form Voltron."_

        The Green Lion quickly flew over to the left of the Black Lion before they all moved upwards. The Lions began to fold on themselves and connect to each other. The Red and Green Lions became arms, the Blue and Yellow Lions becoming legs, and Black being the head and body, with a mask appearing within its open jaw. With a blaze of light, the robot formed a sword in its red arm and charged.

         _"Now we actually have a chance,"_  Ezor grinned as the Serpents returned to fighting.

         _"I wouldn't say that, traitorous girl,"_  Haggar's voice hissed as she appeared on their screens, flanked by Kuron and an angry Sendak. _"The reality gate is now open. Now Voltron and those inferior creations shall face the same evil that the Paladins of Old had fought a mere fraction of."_

        The Druid fleet's forces retreated from the reality gate as it glowed even brighter, a portal growing out of the center. The light became a familiar navy blue and purple color as a cloud of some sort of creatures surged out of the gate, right towards Voltron and destroying all that was still in its path.

        Ayiko's eyes widened as a small voice whispered in her mind.  _"Warriors, regroup in front of Voltron!"_

        The shock of the creatures' arrival caused the other Warriors not to question the Miero's order. They gathered in formation between Voltron and the fast-approaching swarm.

        _"What are you guys DOING?!!"_  Lance shouted. _"You might DIE when those things hit!!"_

         _"I have this feeling,"_  Ayiko replied. _"Some sort of -- Agh!"_  she yelped when an electric pain shot through her head, tendrils going stiff.

         _"Ayiko, what's --!"_  Lotor was cut off by a sudden pound in his head.

         _"Whatever's happening, we can't go anywhere!"_  Ezor panicked. _"Something's wrong with Lotor and Ayiko, and our Serpents seem to_ want _us to stay in front of you!"_

        The Paladins could only watch as the swarm sped up toward them, the Serpents helplessly hovering between the two. The creatures drew closer and closer, ready to smite whatever was in their way...


	18. Seventeen

        Everyone in the path of destruction had shut their eyes in anticipation of the attacking swarm. They waited... and waited... and waited...

        _Nothing?_

        Lotor heard a soft, gentle hiss from Cerise, the stabbing headache falling away. He felt Cerise show what was in front of him through its own eyes, the Serpent's pupils lighting up a pale silver color. The swarm of creatures was spreading out in front of them, not even touching. All the Serpents' pupils had also lit up, indicating the other Warriors were seeing what he was.  _"It isn't attacking us."_

         _"It's not?"_  Hunk sounded very hesitant, but no one could blame him or be surprised. _"No way, it really isn't!"_

 _"Holy crow!"_  Lance exclaimed. _"This is more of a shock than just seeing those things come from the gate! I can't believe what I'm looking at here!"_

 _"Neither can I,"_  Allura added. _"When my father and his team fought these creatures, they had immediately attacked! Instead, it appears they're circling around and attacking the Druids."_

         _"I can't believe_ I'm _seeing this,"_  Ezor chimed in as the Serpents' eyes fell dim, showing the Warriors had opened their eyes. _"I think we were seeing through our Serpents' eyes back there."_

 _"We were,"_  Ayiko confirmed. _"The creatures are based with Decessence like me, and they seem to know that the Druids are a threat. I say we get back to where we left off."_

 _"Indeed, Ayiko,"_  agreed Lotor. _"Paladins, I am quite sure that this will be a short exchange with our newfound allies. As for you, witch. This. Ends._ Now. _"_

 _"I couldn't agree more,"_  Keith replied. _"Alright team, you heard him; this oughtta be an easy fight."_

        The Serpents gave their battle-cry hiss and charged forward, going around the creatures that were rushing into the cruiser. The fleet and its fighters began firing wildly at their enemies, both the ships and the creatures. Voltron destroyed the Komar devices on the cruisers, but some already started turning to combining their ion cannons. Even a segment of the enormous robot took crippling damage whenever it wasn't a miss. The swarm of creatures broke apart and rushed into the cruisers, splitting apart so the weapons miss hitting it.

         _I really wish that my Serpent has something like my knives,_  Ezor thought with a huff as the Serpents weaved through the remaining fighters and ion cannon fire. The Scarlet Serpent hissed, and its Warrior looked to the right touchpad. She pushed down on it, and it sunk slightly into the dashboard. The Serpent's jaw gave a slight drop, and a stream of crystal-like objects were launched at the cruisers, heading straight for the ion cannons. The cannons that fired were met with powerful acidic clouds that melted the cannons the second the crystals shattered.

        "Venom crystals," she realized. "That was pretty awesome."

         _"And effective,"_  added Acxa as the cruisers turned to their standard cannons.  _"Things are getting far easier now that their main weapons are beyond repair."_

         _"I will get my vengeance for this,"_ Haggar hissed, her monitor showing the creatures leaking into the bridge of the main cruiser.  _"On the generals, my former prisoners_ _, Voltron, and especially my star-forsaken_ son _."_

        Hearing the word made everyone freeze in shock.

         _"Did I hear that right,_ witch _?"_  Lotor sounded like he was almost snarling in rage. He waited in silence for about a dobash before Cerise lunged forward. _"So this is the reason why you stalked me when I was Emperor Pro-Tem. The true reason you use the work of my mother Honerva in your experiments. You may have been her once before, but never -- not in all my life -- will I see_ you  _as the Altean who made my father something besides the monster he always was to me!"_

        As if in response to Lotor's words, the creatures began to force into the cruiser's bridge with even more vigor. They gathered into tentacle-like shapes, striking at Sendak and Kuron as they tried unsuccessfully to fend them off. A particularly large group surrounded both of them and separated the Galran insurgent and the clone. One tentacle group was even preparing to strike with a bright gold flash building at the tip.

 _"Enough, Lotor,"_ Ayiko warned, her calm voice piercing the emperor's anger,  _"before you do something you'll regret."_ The tentacle of creatures ceased preparing to fire, and the Cerise Serpent backed up to hover beside Cyan. _"Honerva, this is a battle you cannot win. Your fleet's best weapons are incapacitated beyond repair, and you are surrounded by us and Decessence creatures you cannot control. Surrender, and we might spare you; persist, and I highly doubt the creatures will."_

        The corrupted Altean's eyes closed as she bowed her head, reaching up to remove her hood. A pale gray mane of hair was revealed, along with red Altean marks extending like symmetrical scars on her face. Her complexion shifted from blue to wooden brown, her claws shrinking into chipped nails. The yellow glow in her eyes washed out, leaving amber irises and pink, Altean pupils as she opened her eyes. She stared at the Cyan Warrior on the other side of the screen without fear or emotion. _"As you wish."_

        _A wise decision_ , the Miero hybrid thought. She turned to the creatures holding the now-unconscious clone and Sendak within its gelatinous grasp, a faint red-violet flicker in her pupils. _"Bring all three of them. Make sure they cause us no trouble, but don't cause them any permanent harm."_

        The creatures burst through the doors, washing over the Altean before promptly breaking through the main window. Sendak, Honerva, and the clone were three dark figures in the liquidy cloud as it broke apart and solidified three capsules almost like Altean cryo-pods, entering Lotor's empty cruiser. The remaining creatures gathered and formed a skeletal humanoid shape with long, tapered limbs and strings coming from the top of the head. Two yellow lights appeared where the eyes would be, with a single silver diamond in each one.

         _"Is that a Miero?"_  Ezor asked.  _"'Cause that's a pretty good imitation of the tendrils on the head there. The eyes, too."_

_You are them._

        Ayiko's head shot up at the warped voice. "Who said that?"

         _The one in glass, reborn. The one in the mother, grown up._

         _"Who are you?!"_  It seems Lotor also heard that.

         _"What's happening, you two?"_  The pair could hear the worry in Allura's voice.

         _"I'm detecting these weird frequencies coming from whatever's in front of us,"_  Pidge reported.  _"I think... I think it's trying to communicate. But for some reason, only Ayiko and Lotor can hear it."_

         _We are why the reptiles are conscious. We are the reason a queen and two kings survived the impossible. We are the ancestors of a race. The ones who use the empty energy of the universe. The ones who made it dangerous._

 _"A queen and two kings,"_  Lotor echoed. _"That seems to be all that I can understand of what it said. It's addressing me and my parents when they were inside the rift."_

"The last two prove that they use Decessence, because it's more common in the vacuum of space than on planets; an empty energy," Ayiko added."They made it dangerous by revealing themselves ten thousand years ago. But they say they're the ancestors of a race. What sort of race would be descended from..." Her eyes widened in realization as she trailed off. "Oh no. Dear Rabora, that can't be the truth."

         _"What?"_  Keith asked. _"Do you know what it is?"_

Ayiko's voice was silent for a dobash or two, until she replied,"These dark creatures... are the ancestors of the Miero... And the one they call the one in glass reborn..."

        All the pieces clicked together for the Paladins, and even more for Lotor. What they had learned about how Voltron was created, and the battle between the first group of Paladins and the dark creatures. When Honerva and Zarkon were possessed by their power in the barrier between realities. The reason why only the Cyan and Cerise Warriors could influence the creatures' actions, and hear what they're saying.

        _"The first of these creatures, which my mother held in a glass case,"_  Lotor's voice was hardly a murmur. _"And as it addresses me as the one in the mother grown up, that could only mean... They were the real reason I was alive... And the creature held in the glass... the creature that cried out for help and encouraged the first swarm..."_

        Ayiko looked at the screens of the Paladins and other Warriors. _"It became me. Like the rest of the first defeated swarm became arguably the most dangerous race in the universe, the first one to leave the rift became me."_

        The Paladins fell silent.

         _"Did you hear that, beak-freaks?"_  Lance called to the remaining Druids over the comms. _"You can't fight us and win because the dark creatures would rather follow their own kind. And, um... their own kind are with us!"_

         _"I think they noticed that much, Lance,"_  Hunk spoke up. _"All except the first part, though. Uh, Keith's mom, we got any rebel Galra coming toward us?"_

         _"More than you kids probably want to know,"_  Krolia answered nervously. _"We got the fleets of two rebel factions going headlong in our direction, and three unidentified fleets coming from another direction. Apparently the Druids sent out several distress signals while you were chitchatting. The only message these two factions sent out in advance is that 'The Fire of Purification will prevail' and 'The Voltron Coalition will fall along with Lotor.' The other three have their own messages, but in a very different language."_

 _"Send the other three to me,"_  Ayiko volunteered. _"If they're in Mieran runes, I'll be able to read them."_  The three messages appeared on the dashboard screen in Cyan. _"Hmm... Definitely Mieran cultist remarks. Definitely not anything I'd repeat in polite company; especially not in front of any fellow hybrids."_

        Ezor had a sour look on the side-screen. _"More trouble from those cult creeps; just wonderful."_

        The two Galra fleets quickly appeared from using hyperspeed, the head cruisers looming dangerously close to the group. Three monotone, spearhead-like cruisers appeared from the other side, flanked by at least a dozen smaller triangular cruisers for each. The smaller cruisers shot hundreds of regular fire that squirmed like tendrils in the vacuum. The Paladins screamed as Voltron was repeatedly blindsided by the regular shots, the dark creatures being zapped and captured in chunks by the remaining Druids and the opposing Galra fleet the Paladins were fighting. The head ships produced three yellow-green beams from the undersides of the hulls, ready to fire. Ayiko's eyes widened in terror and threatened to slit, tendrils going stiff as wires.

         _"Lethal blasters..."_  she breathed. _"They incorporated lethal blasters into the spacecraft artillery..."_  She heard the distant sound of Cyan's hissing calling out to her, telling her not to fall into the impending attack.

        Lotor's eyes widened. He knew what those beams meant as much as he recognized the fearful dread creeping into the voice of the Cyan Warrior. _"Stay with us, Ayiko,"_  he commanded. _"You mustn't let your past haunt you at a time like this."_

         _"Can't... help it..."_  Ayiko's voice went from a whisper to utter silence. The monitor showed her slumped in her seat, eyes slit and without any light. Lotor looked in horror as he realized the trajectory of the lethal cannons: they were heading straight for the Serpents!

        Lotor's expression grew into a sneer, vision turning red. How DARE such monsters attack his team?! His fellow hybrids. His  _family_. His  _mate._  Cerise's vicious hiss held all the hatred all he wished to shout against their heartless Mieran foes, the stripes along its sides expanding to illuminate it entirely.

        The Galra emperor was vaguely aware of the Serpent's hood becoming a sheet of light, growing and separating into huge, ribbon-like wings almost twice the hood's original length. He pushed down and forward on the touchpads of the dashboard, the symbol of his Picar blazing with light. The Serpent raced toward the Mieran fleets with the speed of dark matter, curving an arc straight through the fleet. The Cerise Serpent instantly returned to its normal appearance as the Mieran fleet vaporized in a collective explosion. The only remains of it were a select few Mieran escape pods fleeing the battle. By that point, Lotor had regained his senses to see Ayiko jolting out of the attack.

         _"Whoa, what was that?!"_  Ezor cried.

         _"Whatever it was, it looked fairly similar to the Black Lion's ephemeral blades,"_  Allura answered. _"Well done, Lotor. Now we can focus our attention on your treacherous kin."_

        Lotor took a moment to shake off the surprise burst of primal aggression. _"Indeed, Princess."_  The Cerise Serpent turned and flew back to the other Serpents, seeing Acxa coming out of Cyan and returning to Sage.

         _"Had to help Ayiko get back her bearings,"_  the Sage Warrior explained. _"She was still shaken after coming out of the attack."_

 _"I'm alright now, though,"_  Ayiko spoke up, to Lotor's relief. _"Let's get back to the battle. Maybe we can use the Serpents' fangs. Last I recalled, all except the Citrine Serpent have some sort of fang-based weapon."_

         _"Guess that means I'm stuck with crushing,"_  Zethrid grinned. _"Fine by me."_

        Lotor mustered a smile of amusement as the Serpents rushed towards the fleets, four out of five opening their jaws to expose their fangs. The Scarlet Serpent stopped midflight and fired volleys of crystals at the fleets, this time towards the mainframes. The other three surged forward and buried their fangs in the cruisers' metal, going one after another.

        The ships bitten by the Sage Serpent erupted in a green blaze. The ones bitten by Cerise began to melt down with powerful acid coursing through the systems. Lastly, those bitten by Cyan were snapped in two by the enormous fangs, the impact sites colored dark blue with thick venom. Voltron continued to hack and slash at other sections of the enemy ships, with Citrine blasting and crushing other cruisers. And when the rift creatures became free, they started blasting the ships with beams of gold energy. Before long, all of the cruisers and fighters were destroyed.

         _"You did it,"_  Lotor breathed a sigh of relief.

         _"_ We _did it,"_  Allura corrected as Voltron split into Lions. _"Thanks to everyone, we have taken back all that's been taken from us. The castle, Coran..."_

 _"Salen and his brothers..."_  Ayiko continued.

         _"And the reality gate,"_  Lotor finished. _"We'll be able to discuss what to do with the prisoners at Central Command, but we'll release the creatures that helped us after we do so. As for the impostor, I suggest you Paladins keep it in cryogenic stasis, until you know the fate of your true Black Paladin."_

        Keith nodded over the screen. _"Might as well talk about that Quintessence-gathering plan back at the main base while we're at it."_

         _"At least we won the day,"_  Ezor pointed out. _"Let's just head back before something or someone else turns up to annoy the space debris out of us."_

        Everyone managed a laugh as they returned to the castle and cruiser, both of which soon heading back in a wormhole from the Castle of Lions.


	19. Eighteen

        It was already over five movements ever since capturing Honerva and Sendak. Five movements since Coran, Salen, and his brothers had fully recovered from the Druids' torture to be greeted by Team Voltron and the Warriors. Since the hybrid brothers had happily reunited with their old friend, all grown up and with a group of Galra hybrids.

        Standing at Lotor's right side as he addressed his empire, with the Paladins and Warriors lining the wall, Ayiko pondered how much has changed ever since they captured Honerva and Sendak. Kolivan and the Blade of Marmora accepted Lotor's offer to join his ranks as a stealth-based unit. Any revolting factions that were allied with the Fire of Purification were quickly taken out thanks to the Galra Empire and Voltron Coalition working together (especially between the Lions and Serpents).

        After careful planning, the Quintessence-mining operation at the reality gate easily came into fruition. It wasn't unlike mining Quintessence from a planet with the machine designs. However, the personnel would have had to be very closely guarded from any sort of exposure from the energy if they were Quintessence beings besides Allura. But when Salen and his brothers had regained their strength about a movement or two after leaving the healing pods, they gladly volunteered to man the operation. As hybrid Miero and large Decessence creatures, none of them would be affected, so everyone agreed. Ayiko could still remember seeing them all in their new black-blue-and-white armor when they headed off. Sepplon had taken along the laram snake, calling her Pytha, and Salen gave his best wishes to Allura before they left.

        Ayiko peered at the group along the wall. Lance had his arm affectionately around Ezor. Pidge was notably holding Keith's hand, with Acxa and Krolia not far behind. The Black Paladin was there with Krolia, his expression proud and content with how far everyone has come. When the Paladins found that Shiro was trapped inside the Black Lion's consciousness, Allura used her Quintessence abilities to transfer his soul into the clone's body and fuse his memories with the clone's. At the expense of his connection to any of the Lions being severed, and his hair turning white. Even Dayak, Lotor's old governess, had come to the meeting. She stood at Lotor's left side, crop in hand and looking at the Galra soldiers. 

        "...Alongside my fellow Galra and all my colleagues," Lotor concluded, "our empire will be brought further than my father could ever take it. Of course, while a hybrid I may be, I only wish to be remembered as an emperor who fully surpassed his predecessor, and removed the shadow cast by the tyrannical father he had slain."

        "To Blood Emperor Lotor!" Dayak called out. "We shall pledge our eternal loyalty to you. Vrepit Sa." She turned to the emperor and saluted, Ayiko doing the same.

        "Vrepit Sa!" the other Galra and Warriors saluted in agreement.

* * *

        "It's amazing to see how many things have changed for the better ever since I left," Shiro remarked a varga after the visiting soldiers left. "The Galra Empire isn't our enemy anymore, and neither are Lotor and his generals. Keith's found his mother and discovered his sister. Everyone has come such a long way; I'm proud of all of you."

        "We're all just glad you came back, Shiro," Keith smiled at his older brother-figure. "It was pretty lonely not having you around, especially when I was with the Blade."

        "It is a comfort to know the true Champion has finally returned," Lotor added. "Both of our teams have come back together."

        "And this time, our bond as a team won't splinter again." Ayiko looked towards Ezor and Lance. "Instead, it should be remembered, for Narti's sake."

        Ezor's eyes widened, but she smiled and nodded, and Lance gave her a reassuring squeeze and a warm smile.

        "And it looks like a few of you guys got together while I was in Black," Shiro smirked. He gave Lance, Keith, and Pidge a knowing look; all three of whom squeaked the tick he looked at them. "Keith, I'm hoping Matt's fine with you being with Pidge."

        Pidge cleared her throat and composed herself. "I'm pretty sure my brother will be fine with Keith. He's bound to approve, since Keith is basically a little brother to you."

        "And we're totally fine with Ezor being with Li'l Blue over there," Zethrid added, gesturing towards Lance. "They're practically the same person. And so are Lotor and Ayiko."

        "I wouldn't go that far, Zethrid," Acxa commented, raising a brow. "Let's not forget the message sent to us from Mierome in the last quintant. Ayiko, have you translated it as of yet?"

        "Actually, yes," the Miero replied, albeit nervously while bringing it to her gauntlet device. "It is a sealed message from King Hagesh and Queen Seisa. Oddly enough, it is a formal apology for everything that had been done to me as, 'the best hybrid soldier they had ever known.' It also says that they managed to finally capture and remove the leaders of all the Mieran cults, who were all in the Mieran fleets stolen from the starfaring branch of the military. They are... inviting us, as the Serpents' Warriors, to the Corüs Convérsi Cordès in the next movement. The Dance of Changing Hearts. That ceremony hasn't been used since the rise of the first cults centuries ago."

        "Perhaps this means that Mierome has officially seen the error of its ways," Lotor remarked, wrapping an arm around her. "And they wish to establish a firmer alliance with the new Empire."

        "The Corüs Convérsi Cordès only ever comes when a major law or idea is officially changed," Ayiko continued. "I don't want a relapse of the first time we returned to Mierome. The time an invitation to an apology was really an attempted assassination..."

        Lotor felt a lock of tendrils wrap around him in a returning hug, which was returned by tightening his arm around her. "And yet we all survived that day. Since the message is sealed with a mark unlike that of any cult, it appears to be genuine. This means we perhaps can return to Mierome, assured that there will be no attack upon arrival. Even if they do attack, they will be reminded of who pilots the Serpents they created."

        Ayiko still looked uneasy, to Lotor's concern. He still remembered the time she was speaking of. When for her sake, he was given the injury that killed her mother in cold, gray blood. The only difference was that he had survived the injury. "I won't allow them to harm anyone again," he whispered reassuringly into her ear, "especially not you."

        "We'll go to Mierome with you," Allura declared. "The Miero will need a direct connection to the Voltron Coalition as well as the new Galra Empire. We can even invite Salen and his brothers, to show the King and Queen how successful they are with the Empire. And of course, as this sounds like a formal dance, you will require something proper to wear besides armor."

        At the sheer mention of formal attire, the Warriors were anything  _but_  eager. Especially Lotor and Ayiko.

* * *

        "Really, Ayiko. You are overreacting about this entire event," Allura chided the pacing Miero while piloting the Altean pod the two were currently in; the other female Warriors were in the back. "A simple dance shouldn't make a person so off-put."

        "Come back when you've endured half of what a Miero hybrid has to live with," she hissed, hugging herself with her tendrils. "It's simple for you because any Miero would respect a purebred. But you should see I have several reasons to be wary. It isn't the dance putting me off, it's the fact that we'll be on Mierome in attire that won't protect us in an attack. I don't want to lose one of you the same way I lost my mother, and Lotor got himself incredibly close to it."

        Allura rolled her eyes. "The apparel sector of this swap moon should have all that we need for the ceremonial dance. So long as you don't need anything from a traditional Unilu trading post."

        Ayiko scoffed. "I avoid having anything to do with traditional Unilu trading to the best of my ability. Those sorts of people have no dignity, and most of the Unilu's offers are downright grotesque."

        The Altean hummed in agreement. "If only Coran could see that. However, seeing this through doesn't mean I don't remember what you said. If anything, it helps me understand it more than ever." She could feel the skeptical gaze of the Miero hybrid as she continued. "You want to forget your home-planet because of what they had done, and any good memories you have of it are far outweighed by bad ones. You want to cease being haunted by the people who hunted you."

        "You sound surprised about the fact," Ayiko mused before looking ahead. "That must be the swap moon you were speaking of."

        Allura's eyes glittered unnervingly as the shuttle descended to the landing area. "You go back and tell your friends we're here. I know just where to begin our search."

* * *

        Ezor seemed a good deal more excited about the dress-shopping itself rather than wearing one. She and the Altean princess combed through the apparel sector, giving Allura all sorts of tips and tricks about colors and how certain colors and clothing designs match up with certain traits and personalities. The security Galra, Varkon, gave a dip of the head to the three girls waiting just outside the sector as he patrolled by. The other three Warriors thought little of it, and of Allura's fascination towards Ezor's talent with colors.

        Until they both started picking out the dresses.

        Without warning, Acxa was suddenly yanked away and shoved into a dressing room with a set of clothes. Ezor stood against the door so the shorter Warrior couldn't escape. When Acxa finally complied to try it on, albeit very grudgingly, she revealed herself in a thin, high-collared, blue-gray dress embroidered with metallic pale green designs. The dress itself trailed down to her calves, but slits on either side of the skirt went up to her thighs. She looked understandably embarrassed as Ezor and Allura looked her over.

        "Yeah, white tights would be a good add-on," Ezor said to the princess. "At least this shop has clothes even from Lance's home-planet; I think that one's called a... ki-pow?... Whatever name it is. You can change back into your armor, Acxa. I have the perfect idea for the next one."

        After Acxa was back in her armor with Zethrid and Ayiko, the latter two were hiding how nervous they were about who was next. Thankfully, they sighed in relief when Ezor went into the dressing room herself. She came out wearing a shimmering, fiery orange mermaid dress with burgundy straps. The skirt led down purple wisps of smoke to bluish-green flames at the flared bottom. She even topped it off with red gloves that reached up to her elbows.

        Allura applauded how pretty the Scarlet Warrior looked in the dress, and the two clasped each other's hands in joy.

        "I had the feeling it would be something with more than one color," Acxa mused as Ezor went back in to change.

        Ayiko nodding in agreement. "Now it's only a matter of who's next... Do you think she told Allura about Zethrid's non-Galra heritage?"

        Acxa's eyes widened before she walked over to the Altean. She whispered into her ear, and Allura looked rather confused and shook her head. Acxa whispered something else, and the princess nodded in understanding.

        "Thanks for the reminder," Acxa sighed in relief upon returning to the Miero hybrid. "Apparently Ezor _didn't_ explain Zethrid's non-Galra heritage having... certain social roles considered reversed by other species."

        "I'm quite sure Zethrid would have brought out her Picar if either of them chose a dress," the other hybrid added with a wince. "Ezor owes all three of us for this entire stunt, especially forgetting about a fact like that."

        "What do you... oh. Oopsie." Ezor materialized behind her friends and grabbed Ayiko by the shoulders. "Well, this should help make it up to you." Pushing Ayiko away from Acxa, Ezor shoved her into the dressing room with the dress she picked out. "You're especially not getting out of this one, Ayiko. This dance is on your home-planet, so there's no excuse for you not looking good for it. And don't bother with the tendrils or kicks either, because we'll drag you back no matter what."

        The Miero hybrid sighed. She picked up the dress she was given in her tendrils, wincing at the thought of going with some of her scars bared for all to see at the right angle. Seeing that there was clearly no escape, she changed out of her armor and put on the dress, putting her Picar over her scarred wrist. "You can let me out now, but --!"

        Ezor quickly opened the opaque, holographic door for the group to see her. The Cyan Warrior was in a sleeveless, velvet royal blue gown that had green lace on the top. The lace was separated from the skirt by a platinum band, which also held up a long, bright teal waist cape. Aside from the scarring on her cheek and wrists, there were also three streaks down her shoulder, and many more faded ones down both her arms. The Miero hybrid was evidently blushing, with one hand against her other arm.

        "Ayiko, don't be shy," Allura beckoned. "You look gorgeous!"

        "You didn't let me finish," she chided, flicking her tendrils as she stepped out of the dressing room. "I haven't been in anything besides armor since my training as a Mieran soldier. How could I feel secure in something the likes of which I haven't worn since my mother's passing?"

        "You'll be fine, Ayiko," Ezor reassured. "Besides, you and Lotor are a thing now; it's pretty obvious. Knowing him, he won't be driven away just by seeing what he saved you from."

        "Right. Like me and Lotor isn't as obvious as you and Lance."

        Ezor's eyes widened, and she cleared her throat. "Alrighty then. You can go and change back. Zethrid, once she's out we'll get a nice outfit for you, then it's onto shoe-shopping... Don't look at me like that! Not even  _you_  can get out of this one!"


	20. Nineteen

        Lotor could almost feel Ayiko's tension from within the Cyan Serpent. He wore his ceremonial clothing, and while it did show his title as Galra emperor and bore the colors of his usual armor, it felt far too garish for him. He had little doubt that his fellow Warriors -- besides Ezor -- were in agreement about the outfits they were given. Unfortunately, at her orders, he wasn't allowed to see any one of them in their formal clothing, nor were they allowed to see him in his ceremonial attire. She also said they were to change within their Serpents as "extra coverage."

        Understandable, but an odd request -- in his personal opinion. Unfortunately, Ezor never explained the point of it to any of them.

        Flying in formation above the Castle of Lions, the Serpents descended toward the dark planet of Mierome. The silver palace and the expansive courtyard surrounding it appeared below them as they pierced the atmosphere. The glowing lights of the Serpents formed a blazing blend of colors across the dusty gray blanket of ground. They made the Serpents let out a screaming hiss upon landing just at the edges of the courtyard, the castle touching down not far behind them.

        Two noble-looking pureblood Miero stepped out from the crowd of guests already present. One was a man with bright yellow-green eyes and darker-colored tendrils waving like a cape around his gold-embroidered black suit. The other, a woman with crimson orbs and carmine tendrils floating around her carnelian, gold-laced gown.

         _"That must be the King and Queen,"_  Allura assumed. _"Is everyone ready?"_

         _"As we'll ever be,"_  Shiro replied. _"Alright team, let's head out."_

         _"I can't believe you boys all have formal armor that Allura found literally right after she went to the swap moon with us,"_  Ezor remarked. _"And that Pidge already got a dress from before we got to you. You missed out on an awesome shopping trip!"_

         _"I wouldn't call it 'missing out' on anything,"_  quipped Acxa. _"Making Ayiko and me try on things we aren't comfortable with."_

        "Let's proceed, everyone," Lotor reminded them. "I will meet the King and Queen first. Then, the other Warriors will come out individually at my call. Then Allura and the Paladins can follow us."

        The Cerise Serpent lowered its head to the ground and opened its mouth. Lotor strode down the ramp to Hagesh and Seisa.

        "I am Emperor Lotor of the Galra Empire," he introduced himself. "And also, the Champion of Essence and Warrior of the Cerise Serpent."

        The two royal Miero exchanged a few words in Mieran before the woman turned to him. "You must be the successor of Zarkon the resident Galra have been speaking of. I am Queen Seisa of planet Mierome."

        "We are pleased that you had received our invitation," Hagesh added. "Your fellow Warriors are in the remaining Serpents, I presume."

        "Indeed, good sir," Lotor confirmed. "I shall introduce you. To begin, the Champion of Heart and Warrior of the Scarlet Serpent: Ezor of the Chameléae."

        The Scarlet Serpent lowered as Ezor walked out proudly, her Picar over her glove. She bore a confident smile as she stepped up to Lotor's left side; her black, heeled shoes barely showing under the skirt of her dress.

        "The Champion of Body, Warrior of the Citrine Serpent: Zethrid of the Amäzhonés."

        Zethrid left her Serpent in an embroidered, amber-colored tunic shirt, with dark brown trousers and near-black shoes. She had her arms crossed once she took her place by Ezor.

        "The Champion of Mind and Warrior of the Sage Serpent: Acxa of the Azurians."

        Acxa came out wearing the dress the girls saw before, but with thin white tights and black flats. She maintained a stiff composure as she stood a few steps from Lotor's right.

        "And last but not least, the Champion of Soul, Warrior of the Cyan Serpent and former supervisor of their creation: Ayiko of the Miero."

        Ayiko made very little sound as she left the Cyan Serpent, keeping her head down. Her dress fluttered over the ground as she swept up to Lotor's right side. Lotor glanced at her, smiling at how beautiful she looked. Seisa's eyes widened as she said something in Mieran to her husband. Ayiko's eyes donned a faint light of shock at what she said.

        "It seems that our best commander has changed quite a bit since our last meeting," Hagesh commented. "And it seems you have the famed Castle of Lions with you. Does that mean Voltron is also here?"

        "Yes, Voltron is indeed present," Allura replied, approaching the King and Queen with the Paladins behind her. She was wearing one of her usual royal dresses, with Coran at her side in an Altean formal suit. The Paladins wore what looked like their usual armor, but much more angular, and the areas of white and their respective colors were reversed. Pidge, however, wore a lime green gown with translucent fabric along the sleeves and shoulders, along with brown sandals and a silver headband. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, this is my adviser Coran, and these are the Paladins of Voltron."

        "It's a pleasure," Coran bowed.

        Hagesh hummed. "We are already aware of the Lions' existence. Many a Galra ship of Zarkon's empire found its way to our soil with marks that could only be described as teeth and claws. We are glad that he has been replaced by his better-natured son. But of course, this is more than simply a meeting of royalty, it is the Corüs Convérsi Cordès! Come in, all of you. The dance is beginning."

        The Mieran royals turned to the nobles. The Queen called to them something in Mieran as they led the visitors to the dance.

        "Our guests have arrived," Ayiko translated in a hushed voice as they followed. "We expect treating them as you would each other, especially the hybrids. Former Commander Ayiko is a Clär'iéra, so we expect you all to treat her as such."

        "What?" Ezor deadpanned. "Clare-ee-air-what now?"

        Ayiko managed a look of amusement. "Literally, it means 'burning bright eyes'. It's a term given to a Miero with eyes that are brighter than normal, which results from having a stronger connection to their ancestry, or control over their energy."

        "And since you've been in contact with the rift creatures, your connection is very deep indeed," Acxa concurred. "While your control over Decessence may not be of that itself, you can consciously influence the actions of the creatures."

        Ayiko only looked down at her feet. Lotor wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his fingers soon finding the scars on her arm. "Smile, my love. Show them your true beauty, as I have seen it all along."

        The Miero hybrid looked up at him. She smiled, her eyes shining through their own glow, as Lotor led her further towards the music.

        Ezor watched as Pidge grabbed Keith's hand and pulled him away. Acxa shook her head in amusement as she and Zethrid wandered off their own separate ways. Salen even approached Allura, saying he and his brothers came early as he led the princess to the dance. The Scarlet Warrior turned as she heard Lance walk up to her. "Shall we dance, milady?" he asked, holding a hand out.

        She giggled and took his hand. "But of course, kind sir." She leaned close to him and said, "But you should first know, I never learned how to dance."

        Lance smirked and led her to the dance. "No need to worry your pretty little head. Just follow my lead."

        Ayiko never felt the way she did as she and Lotor drew close to the music. The Mieran nobles spoke to each other in hushed tones as the two passed.

        "Her eyes are so bright... I've never seen anything like it, even in other Clär'iérae..."

        "Look at those scars... They weren't joking when they said the cults were brutal..."

        "I thought the cults' torture ceremonies were merely staged..."

        "I never knew the Galran Druids could leave marks like that... Just looking at her wrists is enough to make one sick..."

        Lotor gave a reassuring squeeze as the nobles started to pair up and dance. The music was instrumental, and almost lulling in some parts. It gave off a calming atmosphere, but also had an underlying energy to it. Lotor found it a perfect combination, just like the two of them. His arm drifted down to her waist as he stepped in front of her, taking her hand. Just by a look, the female hybrid knew what he was doing and put her other hand on his shoulder.

        The pair began a slow turn, swaying to the music. The emperor noticed how nervous Ayiko still was, looking down at their feet. His hand left her waist to tilt her chin so she would meet his eyes. "There's no need to fear what they might do, love. Just let the music carry you, like what we did in the arena." A small, warm smile crept up Ayiko's face as she nodded. The two paused for a spin before they resumed swaying to the music.

        Around them, their friends were also enjoying the dance. Allura was leading Salen in an Altean ballroom dance of synchronized steps. Pidge was gleefully spinning with a very confused Keith. Lance was teaching Ezor how to tango, which she seemed to have a lot of fun in doing. Along the outskirts, Hunk and Shiro were talking with Sepplon and Tarren by the buffet table while Coran was losing a dance fight with Xorrem. Acxa was seemingly patrolling the area while Zethrid was eyeing the buffet.

        "Our brother certainly seems to have an interest in Princess Allura, good Shiro," Tarren noted. "And our Kiko is doing quite well with Lotor, so she has told us."

        "I'm surprised Coran hasn't come for your brother's head the second he showed any interest," Shiro remarked, petting the snake in Sepplon's arms.

        "I suppose our time as his prison-mates in the Castle of Lions have earned us his respect," Sepplon replied. "Just like Lotor caring for Ayiko has earned him ours." He looked up at Hunk as the Yellow Paladin hovered over a bowl of clear liquid with pieces of white and green fruit inside. "No need to worry, good Hunk. Opsura and inlus fruit add good flavor to the water. Nothing like that sour liquid called nunvil."

        Hunk smiled in thanks and ladled some of the liquid into a glass. He cautiously took a sip, then nodded in approval. "Just the right combination of sweetness and tang. You guys have pretty great taste."

        Sepplon nodded as he used his tendrils to do the same thing Hunk did. "If you ever want to know anything about Mieran culinary culture, just ask."

        "Oh yeah, that would definitely be great!" the Yellow Paladin agreed, following the youngest brother as they looked over the buffet.

        Shiro rolled his eyes while Tarren shook his head, both smiling. "It's too bad Krolia decided to keep an eye on the castle," the Black Paladin remarked. "Then again, she's probably having as much fun watching Keith as Pidge is dancing with him."

        "Speaking of, good Keith's sister should find a way to enjoy herself," Tarren pointed out. "We had come vargas before you did, and we saw quite a few elite cultists in chains and bandages being taken to the dungeons. There shouldn't be anything to worry about, especially with the castle, Lions, and Serpents that clearly state that they are not to be trifled with."

        "Lotor and Ayiko said that's about as calm as she'll ever allow herself to be," Shiro shrugged. "Just be glad that Ayiko has relaxed enough even after all she's been through. I haven't seen her get any sour looks from those nobles yet."

        "Everyone," the Mieran King called everyone in front of the palace, his and the Queen's tendrils fanned out above them as the music quieted. "Subjects, guests, purebloods and hybrids of all kinds. I am sure you all know the reason why this celebration was brought about. For centuries -- no, millennia -- we have lived upon the groundless hatred and prejudice that was the purebred tradition. A tradition that was interpreted radically by cults that have spanned such lengths of time. Good children and their parents, hybrid and pureblood alike, have been slaughtered mercilessly by these cults."

        The Queen continued, "But now, a group of hybrids from our planet has risen above the cults that harmed them and their families, alongside fellow hybrids. They have proven themselves in their tolerance in the face of hate, and their persistence through all that was thrown at them. Even the demise of their family. Come to us, sons of Tenuas of the Miero and Shyera of the Lizalids."

        "Narti was part-Lizalid," Ezor whispered to Lance as the brothers went up to the dais the royals were standing on, positioning themselves right at the foot of the platform.

        "Now come," Seisa resumed, "Ayiko, daughter of Ajhura of the Miero, and Zerax of the Galra; along with all your fellow Galra hybrids."

        The Warriors and Keith all came forward to the foot of the dais, standing in front of the towering brothers. Ezor went in front of Sepplon, first on the left. Zethrid went to Xorrem on the far left. Acxa stood before Tarren at the far right, with her brother in front of Salen beside her. Finally, Lotor and Ayiko stood between Salen and Sepplon, remaining at each other's side.

        "Individuals like those you see here are the reason why the purebred tradition should have long-since changed," Hagesh declared. "In the name of our new allies in the new Galra Empire, and of the Legendary Defender itself, Voltron, we decree that hybrids shall no longer be held under the tradition of blood-purity. Instead, they will be treated with respect like any other being in the universe. May the mothers, fathers, and especially the children antagonized and killed by the cults smile down at this long awaited moment from among the stars."

        The nobles snapped rhythms in the air with their tendrils in applause. Nine pairs of eyes were alight with joy, as were those of their friends among the crowd.

        Lotor held onto Ayiko's hand the whole time.

* * *

        After the celebration had ended, the Paladins, Warriors, and brothers were returning to their respective spacecraft to part ways. All of whom gave the promise to meet up again sometime in the near future. Salen gave his best wishes to Allura, Ezor tightly hugged Lance, Hunk gave Sepplon and Pytha one last goodbye, and Krolia hugged her daughter from being so proud of Acxa.

        "After ten-thousand years of waiting, we have finally found peace," Allura sighed in relief. "Peace with the Galra, peace with the creatures of the rift..."

        "And prosperity for all," Lotor finished.

        "You will always be welcome at Central Command," Ayiko added, "as we can rest assured we will be welcome among the Coalition."

        The Altean princess smiled as she led Coran, Krolia, and the Paladins into the castle. "Naturally."

        After the Castle of Lions took off, Lotor looked back down at Ayiko, who was about to head to Cyan. He caught her arm and pulled her back to give her a short, sweet kiss on the lips, smirking at her shocked look as he pulled away. "A special gift from me, my Empress."

        Ayiko's cheeks tinted gray in the darkness of the planet before she smiled softly. She stretched up for them to touch foreheads before she went to Cyan. "Consider _that_ my accepting of your gift," she said simply.

        Lotor smiled in satisfaction as he went into Cerise, and the five Serpents ascended back to the stars, to the Central Command System and a long-awaited age of peace.


End file.
